Dec

2017

Species Profile: The La Plata Dolphin

The La Plata Dolphin is one small but interesting looking animal; it has the longest beak relative to size of any cetacean.

Adult La Plata Dolphin (Photo: Pinterest)

The La Plata dolphin, or Franciscana, is a river dolphin native to parts of the coastal Atlantic waters of southeast South America. This dolphin is the only member of its family Pontoporiidae.

Strangely, although it’s a river dolphin, it’s the only one of this group that also lives in the ocean and saltwater estuaries. That’s quite unlike other river species like the Amazon River dolphin that inhabits freshwater exclusively.

La Plata dolphins are one of the smallest dolphins worldwide. In fact, they could easily hold the

Dec

2017

Feeding Dolphins And Some Things That Could Go Wrong

Feeding dolphins may sound noble and kind but if you do it you may be harming the animals, and breaking the law.

A new study conducted in Sarasota Bay concludes that wild dolphins are more likely to suffer injury if humans feed them. When meeting dolphins, either in aquariums or in areas that these cetaceans visit, humans can provide them with food, but this action is not good for them.

Dolphins are intelligent and active predators that have a carnivorous diet. They can quickly adapt to any habitat they find themselves.

Unfortunately, humans are interfering with the natural order of life these animals are supposed

Dec

2017

Swimming With Dolphins: Here Are Some Pros And Cons To Note

Swimming with dolphins sounds like fun but you’ll need to consider the pros and cons before embarking on such an adventure.

Swimming With Dolphins

Imagine the summer holidays are here, and you are on your way down to the south coast, the Caribbean, for a long-awaited vacation. Or it’s winter where you are and you want to escape to a warmer climate for a while.

The sandy beaches, warm weather, and the rare experience of swimming with dolphins.

Just take a look at the daily adverts or Google suggestions, you would find ubiquitous adverts welcoming you to the great resorts and exotic dolphinariums for a great SWTD (Swim-with-the-dolphins) experience. A fishy kiss or a dolphin ride (the dorsal tow) from these social and

Dec

2017

Owning A Dolphin: Is That Even Possible In The USA?

Do you dream of owning a dolphin in the USA? Then you’ll need to read this.

A Dolphin With A Boy: Owning a dolphin

Have you ever wondered if you could own and keep your very own dolphin right there in your backyard? Or have you been dreaming of the possibility of creating your own miniature marine park as part of your home or business premises.

Imagine having a playful bottlenose dolphin in a nice pool on your grounds. That would delight your kids and visitors and stand you out as being really cool wouldn’t it?

But what are the legalities involved in owning a dolphin in the USA? Is it even legal to keep such

Dec

2017

Species Profile: The Guiana Dolphin

The Guiana Dolphin is a relatively smaller-sized animal that can live in both freshwater and salt water.

A Guiana Dolphin (Photo: Instituto Boto Cinza, cc by-s.a. 2.5)

The Guiana Dolphin is a relatively small-sized cetacean dwelling in the Atlantic Ocean around parts of South and Central America.

Interestingly, though it’s a member of the oceanic dolphin family (Delphinidae) along with species like the Orcas (killer whales) and the bottlenose dolphins, it can live both in salt and freshwater.

The Guiana dolphin is similar in appearance to the bottlenose dolphin although it is lighter in

Dec

2017

Can Dolphins Detect Pregnancy In Women? Is This True Or False?

Can Dolphins Detect Pregnancy In Women? Is This True Or False?

A pregnant woman in the sea

In addition to many any of the amazing attributes and characteristics of dolphins, people working closely with dolphins observe that they can detect pregnancy in women.

What do the experts have to say about this though?

Remember that one of the most important attributes of dolphins is their echolocation. By emitting sound waves that bounce off nearby objects, dolphins and many other sea mammals

Dec

2017

Dolphin Pods: What Are They Really All About?

Have you ever wondered why dolphin pods even exist in the first place? The reasons are explained below.

Dolphin Pods

Dolphins are no doubt one of the world’s most loved and well-known aquatic mammals. These highly intelligent beings can live for up to 50 years or more and typically range in size from 2.3 meters to the largest dolphins, the killer whales (Orcas), that measure averagely 8 meters (26 feet).

These are very social creatures, hardly ever seen alone. And, they travel in groups better known

Nov

2017

What Are Military Dolphins And What Do They Do?

The military of different countries regularly use dogs in their operations. But did you know Military Dolphins exist?

Common Bottlenose Dolphin : Military Dolphins

K-Dog Has Been Trained By The US Navy To Find Mines And Boobytraps Underwater (PD US Navy/Wikimedia Commons)

Dogs are not the only animals that are trained for military purposes. For centuries now, humans have recognized that dolphins are some of the most intelligent mammals around. Especially species like the common bottlenose dolphin.

So, the military harnesses these abilities to train them to accomplish various military tasks.

Another reason the military decided to work with dolphins is that they see that they can easily

Nov

2017

Species Profile: The Melon-Headed Whale

The Melon-Headed Whale is actually a dolphin and it’s commonly seen in the company of other species in the wild.

Pod of Melon-Headed Whales at the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument (Photo: USFWS, Public Domain)

The Melon-Headed Whale is actually a dolphin belonging to the oceanic dolphin family; the Delphinidae. Along with other close species like the false killer whale, the pygmy killer whale, and the pilot whale, it’s also referred to as “blackfish.”

These creatures prefer to swim in very deep waters so they are rarely seen by humans.

The melon-headed whale has a somewhat small and slim, torpedo-shaped body. With a rounded cone-like head hence the name “melon-headed.” Their bodies are uniformly light gray

Nov

2017

Species Profile: The South Asian River Dolphin

The South Asian River Dolphin is the group term for 2 subspecies of endangered and ‘blind’ dolphins in parts of Asia.

Ganges Subspecies Of The South Asian River Dolphin (Photo: NOAA, Public Domain)

The South Asian River Dolphin refers to two variants of dolphins; the Ganges River dolphin and the Indus River dolphin.

Both dolphins are freshwater, or river, cetaceans typically found in India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan and split into two subspecies. As their names imply, the Ganges river dolphin is