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What is a Dolphin?
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fiXtopia's Dolphin Community -
Information on Echolocation
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Dolphins are aquatic mammals which are closely related to whales and porpoises. There are almost forty species of dolphin in seventeen genera. They vary in size from 1.2 metres (4 ft) and 40 kilograms (88 lb) (Maui’s Dolphin), up to 9.5 m (30 ft) and ten tonnes (the Orca or Killer Whale). They are found worldwide, mostly in the shallower seas of the continental shelves, and are carnivores, mostly eating fish and squid. Source
In non-competitive diving, a dolphin dive is a form of rapid entry used by lifeguards to quickly traverse stretches of shallow (waist – chest deep) water. To perform a dolphin dive:- * The rescuer runs to a point where the water is roughly-waist deep. Before forward momentum can be slowed… * The rescuer leaps forward in a dive position, arching his body to break the surface and reach down towards the sand.
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River dolphins are four species of dolphin which reside in freshwater rivers and estuaries. They are classed in the Platanistoidea superfamily of cetaceans. Three species live in fresh water rivers. The fourth species, the La Plata Dolphin, lives in saltwater estuaries and the ocean. However, it is scientifically classed in the river dolphin family rather than the oceanic dolphin family.
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Sixteen ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Dolphin after the dolphin.
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Seven ships of the United States Navy have borne the name USS Dolphin, commemorating the dolphin, a gregarious aquatic mammal having a pointed muzzle, and found in most oceans; also, a swift, spiny-finned fish having a long dorsal fin and iridescent body, and found throughout warm seas.