Dolphins Living in Different Habitats

Have you already seen a dolphin? Not all of us would have the chance to see one of them but let us just try to picture out their characteristic and its different types. Dolphins are considered to be an aquatic mammal. They are closely related to the whales, although they are smaller. How do dolphins breathe? Actually, they breathe through the air, but they cannot survive on dry lands. That is why we can see on some parts of the ocean where dolphins go up to the surface of the water just to breathe. If you already saw a dolphin, whether from pictures, videos, or in reality, you can observe that they have a fishlike structure. They have long snouts, and fins. Dolphins are known to possess higher intelligence than other creatures in the ocean. They are capable of creating sounds, chirps, and squeaks. The sounds that they produce are used as their means of communication. They have a sonar system which helps them navigate and find objects under water.

There are numerous types of dolphins varying from color, size, and head shape. Dolphins are categorized into two groups. One is the marine dolphin and the other is a fresh water dolphin. As we get deeper into our topic, we will be describing each category and the different types of dolphins. Let us start with the marine dolphins. These are the ones which belong to the family of delphinidae. They are commonly found in several open seas and often found on rivers. Common dolphin is considered to be an example of a marine dolphin. They are known to be the fastest dolphins. They have an approximate length of 7 feet. Unlike any other type of dolphins, they have a black ring around their eye. They also have a long green, gray, and brown stripes on the side of their body. This type of dolphin has around fifty small and sharp teeth. Common dolphin is found in most deep oceans. They love to stay on warm and temperate oceans.

The next type of marine dolphin is the black and white dolphin. They are a member of the cephalorhynchus family. They are also called as the skunk dolphin. This is because of their color. This type of dolphin is the smallest among all. It has an approximate length of 4 feet. They have triangular fins, which make them different from others. They also have thirty pairs of teeth and have a short beak. Bottle nose dolphins are another type of marine dolphins. They are scientifically known as the Tursiops. Another name for this dolphin is the cowfish. They have an approximate length of ten to twelve feet, with a short beak around three inches. They have around twenty teeth from the upper and lower jaw. They love to eat shoal fish just like the weakfish. The female bottlenose dolphins will give birth to a single young eleven to twelve months after mating. During the delivery, the young will appear out from the birth canal with its tail first. After that the young will then rise up to the surface of the water to breath. This first breath is important for its survival.

The next category is the river or fresh water dolphin. One good example is the white flag dolphin. Lipotes vexillifer is their scientific name. They are also called as the Chinese river dolphins. They were named as the white flag dolphins because their dorsal fins resemble a flag when it hits the water surface. This is considered to be a strange dolphin commonly found in the lake Tung Ting which is a fresh water lake located around six hundred miles from the Yangtze River. Experts are still figuring out how these dolphins came across the lake. Unfortunately, they have no close relatives found after several studies.

Another type of fresh water dolphin is the Amazon dolphin. During the old times, it is commonly known as the Inia. They are also called as the Bouto up to these days. The native people greatly fear this type of dolphin because they believe that the Bouto has a will to attack an individual in the water. A great story behind this creature is that the native long time ago saw this dolphin from the water resembling a beautiful princess. Always remember that not all dolphins are friendly. Some of them are capable of killing a human being.