Dolphins are clever, friendly sea mammals that breathe air, live in family pods and call each other by name.
A dolphin is a mammal, not a fish — and one of the smartest animals on Earth.
It breathes air with lungs, is born live rather than hatched, drinks its mother's milk and has warm blood. Dolphins learn hundreds of signals, solve problems, copy people and even use simple tools.
Every dolphin has its own whistle, like a name — and can swim faster than 50 km/h.
Other dolphins call it by that whistle, and if one gets separated the pod calls out until it is found. Dolphins usually cruise at 10–20 km/h but can sprint past 50.
A dolphin mother carries her baby for about 12 months and stays beside it for years.
She feeds it milk and swims close by to keep it safe. Dolphins live in family groups called pods, which can hold a few dolphins or even hundreds.
Dolphins lift a hurt friend up to the surface so it can breathe.
They guard each other from sharks, and there are records from around the world of dolphins guiding boats to shore and helping people in trouble at sea.
A dolphin only looks like it is smiling — its mouth is curved that way.
The curve never changes, even when it is resting or hunting. Its real dangers are big sharks and killer whales.
Dolphins come in more than 40 kinds, and some live over 50 years.
They live in the open ocean, along coasts and even in rivers — the bottlenose, the spinner and the Amazon river dolphin among them. Most live 30–40 years.
Dolphins need our help: plastic, fishing nets and noisy boats put them in danger.
Ocean pollution and a changing climate hurt them too. Looking after the sea means looking after the dolphins' home.
A dolphin can recognise itself in a mirror.
That is a sign of self-awareness, which very few animals show. Some dolphins blow rings of bubbles to herd fish together before hunting, they often hunt as a team, and a newborn calf can swim almost straight away.
Quiz time: what do you remember about dolphins?
Four questions to try: what do dolphins breathe with? What does every dolphin have that works like a name? How long does a mother look after her baby? Name two dangers dolphins face.
