DOLPHINS
Introductory
Dolphins are a small gregarious toothed whale (which means they are mammals) that
typically has a beaklike snout and a curved fin on the back. Dolphins have become well
known for their sociable nature and high intelligence.
What makes them different from other mammals
Dolphins like other mammals are warm blooded, give birth, and are born with hair. But what makes
them different that they live their lives in the water and just get out to breathe.
How do they look like
Dolphins have smooth, rubbery skin and are
usually colored in some mixture of black, white,
and gray. They have two flippers, or fins, on their
sides, as well as a triangular fin on the back. Like
other whales, they have an insulating layer of
blubber (fat) beneath the skin.
There habitat
Dolphins live in the world's seas and oceans and in
some rivers too. Some dolphin species prefer to live
in coastal areas, others like shallow water which are
located further out to sea. Finally, there are some
species that travel the high seas far from land.
Are there different types of Dolphins?
Yes there are. Like for example the different dolphin types that live in the rivers
and the there types that live In the seas. Each one of them has a different color
from the other so they are easily distinguished.
River dolphins
There are 5 species of river dolphins. And each one of them has different
characteristics that can help us know the type of the dolphin with the most
apparent one is their skin color or how they look
Amazon river dolphin
The Amazon river dolphin ,also known as the boto, bufeo or pink river
dolphin, is a species of toothed whale which is native to and is exclusively
of South America classified in the family Iniidae
The baiji dolphin
The baiji is a possibly extinct species of freshwater dolphin native to
the Yangtze river system in China. It is thought to be the
first dolphin species driven to extinction due to the impact of humans. This
dolphin is listed as “critically endangered: possibly extinct” by the IUCN,
has not been seen in 40 years, and several surveys of the Yangtze have
failed to find it.
The La Plata dolphin
The La Plata dolphin is a species of dolphin found in coastal Atlantic
waters of southeastern South America. It is a member of the river
dolphin group and the only one that lives in the ocean and
saltwater estuaries, rather than inhabiting exclusively freshwater systems.
There are of course more types of river dolphins. But lets get in to sea dolphins
Sea dolphins
There are a lot of types of sea dolphins. They range in size from the largest, such as
the orca, pilot whale and false killer whale, to the smallest which include the New
Zealand dolphin and tucuxi. Other ocean dolphins include Risso's, striped, spinner,
spotted, common, dusky, hourglass, rough-toothed, white-beaked, Commerson's and
bottlenose dolphins.
In this presentation I will show only 3 types of sea dolphins.
Orca dolphin
Orcas are members of the marine dolphin family Delphinidae, their overall
size is what sets them apart from others in their suborder. Today, if a
dolphin reaches a size of more than 30 feet long, it may be referred to by
some as a whale, but the rules of taxonomy still classify the orca as a
dolphin
Pilot whale dolphin
Pilot whales are among the largest of the oceanic dolphins, exceeded in
size only by the orca. They and other large members of the dolphin family
are also known as blackfish. Pilot whales feed primarily on squid, but will
also hunt large demersal fish such as cod and turbot.
The striped dolphin
The striped dolphin is an extensively researched dolphin found
in temperate and tropical waters of all the world's oceans. It is a member
of the oceanic dolphin family, Delphinidae
