Photo of a dolphin - the habitat of a common dolphin. Dolphins Where to find in Anapa

home Delphinus delphis ( Short-beaked Common

Dolphin)

Order Cetaceans - Cetacea

Suborder Toothed whales (Odontoceti)

Dolphin family - Delphinidae

Genus Common dolphins (Delphinus) Ordinary (short-beaked dolphin) - Short-beaked Common Dolphin

the most common species of the dolphin family. Other names: white-sided dolphin, saddleback dolphin, cross-tailed dolphin. When asked how many species belong to the genus Delphinus, No

a clear answer. Most zoologists have always recognized only one species - the common dolphin. ) Since the 1990s, there has been a growing number of zoologists recognizing a second species: the long-beaked common dolphin ( . It has a longer stigma. Is he really a separate species

or simply a subspecies or variant of the same species remains a matter of debate.

• general information Species status
• - common. Habitat
• - open water and coastal zone.- 10-500 (1-2000).
• Number of groups Dorsal fin location
• - in the center.D Lina newborn
• - 80-90 kg. Adult Length
• - 1.7-2.4 m, males are 6-10 cm larger than females. Lifespan
• – more than 20 years. Nutrition
  - feeds on pelagic schooling fish, as well as cephalopods and rarely crustaceans.
  In the Black Sea, the favorite food is sprat and anchovy, to a lesser extent pelagic needles, haddock, red mullet, horse mackerel, mullet, mackerel. In other seas it eats herring, capelin, sardine, saury, mackerel, even flying fish, occasionally cephalopods

Area The common dolphin is found in different parts world oceans, especially in tropical And moderate

x latitudes. Its distribution areas form separate, often unconnected regions. One of the largest areas is the Mediterranean Sea with the Black Sea and the northeast.

Atlantic Ocean Another large population lives in the eastern part Pacific Ocean . In addition, common dolphins are found off the eastern coast of North and South America , off the coast South Africa

, around Madagascar, off the coast of Oman, around Tasmania and New Zealand, in the seas between Japan, Korea and Taiwan. Being the inhabitants, common dolphins are only rarely found in close proximity to the shore. These animals feel most comfortable at a water temperature of 10 to 20° C.

The common dolphin is the most common representative of his family around the European continent.

In the 1960s, their population declined sharply in the Mediterranean and Black Seas, and the reasons for this decline are still unknown. Probably the reason is overly intensive fishing, which deprives dolphins of food, as well as increasing sea pollution, which weakens the dolphins’ immune system.

In 2003, the Mediterranean population of common dolphins was estimated to be "threatened" and is listed in the Red Book.

Appearance

Body length 180-260 cm, weight 75-115 kg.
The physique is slender, fish-shaped. The snout is narrow.
On each half of the lower jaw 33-67, most often 40-50 cone-shaped teeth. There are 2 deep longitudinal grooves in the sky.

The long beak is sharply demarcated from convex forehead. From the side you can see that the upper jaw is narrower than the lower jaw. Quite precisely in the middle of the back is a curved triangular dorsal fin, the end of which is slightly extended back. The pectoral fins are long and narrow. Light gray side stripes extend from the eyes, which contrast brightly with the dark back when the dolphin jumps out of the water. The pattern on the sides resembles an hourglass.

A dark stripe runs from the dark pectoral fins to the chin. Dark circles around the eyes. The caudal fin has a small notch in the middle, with a curved caudal edge and pointed ends.

Lifestyle and nutrition

The common dolphin is one of the most gregarious, playful and fast-moving cetaceans. His speed reaches 36 km/h, and when it rides a ship wave near the bow of high-speed ships, then more than 60 km/h. Jumps “candle” upward up to 5 m, and horizontally up to 9 m. Immerses for 8 minutes, but usually for a time from 10 seconds to 2 minutes.

The Black Sea common dolphin feeds in the upper layer of the sea and does not dive deeper than 60-70 m, but the ocean form catches fish living at depths of 200-250 m. When food accumulates, the common dolphin gathers in large herds, sometimes together with other species - pilot whales and short-headed dolphins.

White sideds often live in families, composed, as is believed, of the offspring of several generations of the same female. However, males and lactating females with young animals, as well as pregnant females, sometimes form separate (apparently temporary) schools. During sexual activity, mating groups of sexually mature males and females are also observed. Mutual assistance reaction has been developed.

They live up to 30 years. The sound signals of white sided dolphins are as varied as those of bottlenose dolphins: quacks, howls, squeaks, croaks, cat calls, but whistling predominates. There were up to 19 different signals. In this species, unusually strong calls, the meaning of which has not been determined, called “shot” (duration 1 s) and “rumble” (duration 3 s) were found to have very high sound pressure (from 30 to 160 bar) and a frequency of 21 kHz.

Like all dolphins, the common dolphin eats fish, Sometimes cephalopods and rarely crustaceans.
In the Black Sea, the favorite food is sprat and anchovy, to a lesser extent pelagic needles, haddock, red mullet, horse mackerel, mullet, mackerel. In other seas it eats herring, capelin, sardine, saury, mackerel, even flying fish, and occasionally cephalopods. At depth - glowing anchovy, hake, batilagus, otophidium, etc.

Cubs

Reproduces predominantly in summer.
Pregnancy lasts 10-11 months. The cub is fed on mother's milk for 4-5 months and becomes sexually mature no earlier than in the fourth year, with a length of 1.5-1.6 m.

The birth of a young dolphin can take up to two hours. The rear fin emerges first to prevent the baby from suffocating immediately at birth. After birth, the mother carries the baby to the surface so that it can take its first breath. During childbirth, the mother animal is protected by the rest of the group from possible shark attacks.

Twins are born extremely rarely and, as a rule, do not survive because there is not enough mother's milk.

Common dolphin and man

Treats humans peacefully, never bites, but Badly endures bondage.

In some regions of the world, common dolphins have been hunted. For example, they were hunted by Peruvian fishermen to sell their meat. Hunting for common dolphins was also carried out in the Black Sea. However, in most parts of the world, these dolphins have never been killed on purpose.

However, they are often killed in fishing nets or caught in the propellers of ships.

A dolphin is a representative of the suborder of toothed whales, the order of cetaceans, and the dolphin family (Delphinidae). The graceful body of the dolphin has a spindle-shaped, streamlined shape, which allows these mammals to quickly cut through the surface of the water. The dolphin's speed reaches 50 km/h.

People and dolphins

People have known about the extraordinary intelligence and intelligence of dolphins for a long time. These adorable animals rescue people from ships in distress, preventing them from drowning. You could even say that dolphins are the smartest animals on the planet. Many trainers believe that the intelligence of dolphins can be equated to that of humans, these animals behave so intelligently and unusually.

There is a joke about dolphins that says that if a person had not overtaken the dolphins and had not climbed down from the tree earlier, they would have come out of the water and now would have been the kings of nature, replacing us.

The dolphin is smart, kind, beautiful, he is an excellent learner, analyzes and remembers.

Dolphins are directly related to the formidable inhabitants of the oceans, killer whales and. There are about 50 species of dolphins. These include the harbor porpoise, black dolphin, gray dolphin, white-faced dolphin, and Atlantic white-sided dolphin.

The most popular is the bottlenose dolphin (large dolphin), which is what people mainly mean when talking about encounters with representatives of this species. They are well studied and tamed. Bottlenose dolphins are featured in films and participate in programs for the rehabilitation of children suffering from various neurological ailments.

Dolphin - description and photographs. What does a dolphin look like?

A dolphin is not a fish, but a mammal. Common to all species is an elongated, streamlined body, which is crowned by a small dolphin’s head with a beak-like mouth. Each jaw has 80-100 small conical teeth. The dolphin's teeth are slightly inclined inward. The transition between the muzzle and the frontal part is well defined. Almost all members of the dolphin class have a prominent dorsal fin. The skin is elastic and smooth to the touch. The length of a dolphin can reach 4.5 meters depending on the species.

Dolphins move very easily in the water; they practically do not feel its resistance thanks to special fatty secretions on the skin that facilitate gliding. Interestingly, the friction of water quickly wears off a dolphin’s skin. Therefore, in the deep layers of the skin they have a significant supply of regenerating cells. The dolphin constantly sheds, changing up to 25 layers of skin per day!

Dolphins have small eyes and poor vision. This is due to the fact that animals practically do not use them for hunting. The nostrils are transformed into a blowhole located on the crown.

How do dolphins breathe?

Whales and dolphins are related and can stay underwater for long periods of time without surfacing. The blowhole is closed during such periods. But, like other cetaceans, dolphins still need air underwater and periodically float to the surface to breathe.

Do dolphins have ears?

Dolphins do not have ears. But this does not mean that they have no hearing. Eat! True, it functions differently from other mammals. Sounds are perceived by the inner ear, and air cushions located in the frontal part serve as resonators. But these animals are fluent in echolocation. They accurately determine the location and dimensions of an object by the reflected sound, and the distance to it by the wavelength.

How do dolphins sleep?

Dolphins also have another interesting physiological feature: They never sleep. Animals hang in the water column, periodically rising to the surface to breathe. During rest, they are able to turn off alternately the left and right hemispheres of the brain, that is, only one half of the dolphin’s brain sleeps, and the other half is awake.

Where do dolphins live?

The dolphin's habitat is exclusively water bodies. The dolphin lives in almost all places on our planet, with the exception of the Arctic and Antarctic regions. Dolphins live in the sea, in the ocean, and also in large freshwater rivers (Amazonian river dolphin). These mammals love space and move freely over long distances.

Dolphin language

Dolphins are animals social, they live in packs, which can number from 10 to 100 (sometimes more) individuals, fighting off enemies with common efforts. Within the pack there is practically no competition or fights between them; fellow tribesmen coexist peacefully with each other. Dolphins communicate using sounds and signals. Dolphin language extraordinarily varied. The “conversation” of these mammals includes clicking, whistling, barking, and chirping. The spectrum of dolphin voices extends from the most low frequencies before ultrasound. Moreover, they can fold simple sounds into words and sentences, passing information to each other.

What do dolphins eat?

The diet of dolphins includes exclusively fish, with preference given to anchovies. The hunting method used by the animals is also interesting. A school of dolphins finds a school of fish and uses special sounds to force it into a tight group. As a result of such a hunt most of school becomes prey for dolphins. This feature is often used when attacking frightened fish from the air. There are known facts when dolphins helped fishermen by driving a school of fish into their nets.

Sharks and dolphins

An interesting fact is that dolphins also live in symbiosis. They often hunt together without showing any aggression towards each other.

Dolphin species

There are 17 genera in the dolphin family. Most interesting varieties dolphins:

• White-bellied dolphin (black dolphin, Chilean dolphin) ( Cephalorhynchus eutropia)

lives exclusively on the coast of Chile. An animal with rather modest dimensions - the length of the stocky and rather thick body of this cetacean does not exceed 170 cm. The back and sides of the white-bellied dolphin are gray, while the throat, belly area and parts of the flippers adjacent to the body are completely white. The flippers and dorsal fin of the white-bellied dolphin are smaller than those of other dolphin species. This type close to extinction, protected by Chilean authorities.

• Common dolphin (common dolphin) ( Delphinus delphis)

The length of the sea animal often reaches 2.4 meters, the weight of the dolphin varies between 60-80 kilograms. In the area of ​​the back, the common dolphin is colored dark blue or almost black, the belly is white, and along the light sides there is a spectacular stripe of a yellowish-gray hue. This species of dolphin lives in the Mediterranean and Black Seas, and feels at ease in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Common dolphin can be found on east coast South America, along the coasts of New Zealand and South Africa, in the seas of Japan and Korea.

• White-faced dolphin ( Lagenorhynchus albirostris)

a large representative of cetaceans with a body length reaching 3 meters and weighing up to 275 kg. Distinctive feature The white-faced dolphin has a very light, sometimes snow-white muzzle. The habitat of this mammal includes the waters of the North Atlantic, the coast of Portugal and Turkey. The dolphin feeds on fish such as navaga, flounder, herring, whiting, as well as mollusks and crustaceans.

• Large-toothed dolphin ( Steno bredanensis)

The body length of this marine mammal is 2-2.6 meters, weight varies from 90 to 155 kg. The height of the dorsal fin is 18-28 cm. The color of the dolphin is dominated by gray, with whitish spots scattered throughout. This species of dolphin is common off the coast of Brazil, in the Gulf of Mexico and California, and lives in warm waters Caribbean and Red Seas.

• Bottlenose dolphin (large dolphin or bottlenose dolphin) ( Tursiops truncatus)

The length of the animal can vary from 2.3 to 3.6 meters, and weight from 150 to 300 kg. The body color of the bottlenose dolphin depends on its habitat, but generally the species has a dark brown upper body and a grayish-white belly. Sometimes a faint pattern in the form of fuzzy stripes or spots is observed on the sides. The bottlenose dolphin lives in the Mediterranean, Red, Baltic and Black Seas, and is often found in the Pacific Ocean along the coasts of Japan, Argentina and New Zealand.

• Broad-snouted dolphin (beakless dolphin) ( Peponocephala electra)

common in the waters of countries with tropical climates, especially mass populations live along the coast of the Hawaiian Islands. The torpedo-shaped, light gray body of the animal is crowned with a cone-shaped head of dark gray color. The length of the mammal often reaches 3 meters, and an adult weighs more than 200 kg.

• Chinese dolphin (Sousa chinensis)

This member of the genus of humpback dolphins lives in the waters along the coast of Southeast Asia, but migrates during the breeding season, so it is found in bays, quiet sea lagoons and even rivers washing Australia and the countries of South Africa. The length of the animal can be 2-3.5 meters with a weight of 150-230 kg. Surprisingly, although dolphin calves are born completely black, as they grow, the body color changes first to light gray, with slightly pinkish spots, and adults become almost white. The Chinese dolphin feeds on fish and shellfish.

• Irrawaddy dolphin ( Orcaella brevirostris)

A distinctive feature of this type of dolphin is the complete absence of a beak on the face and a flexible neck, which gained mobility due to several skin and muscle folds behind the head. The body color of the Irrawaddy dolphin can be either light gray with a blue tint or dark gray, while the belly of the animal is always a shade lighter. This aquatic mammal reaches 1.5-2.8 meters in length and weighs 115-145 kg. The dolphin's habitat covers the waters of the warm Indian Ocean, from the Bay of Bengal to the northern coast of Australia.

• Cruciform dolphin ( Lagenorhynchus cruciger)

lives exclusively in Antarctic and subantarctic waters. The color of the dolphin is black and white, less often – dark gray. Spectacular mark white, covering the sides of the mammal, stretches to its muzzle, framing the eye area. The second mark runs longitudinally along the back of the body, intersecting with the first and forming a pattern in the form hourglass. An adult cross-shaped dolphin has a body length of about 2 meters in length, the weight of the dolphin varies between 90-120 kilograms.

• Killer whale (killer whale) ( Orcinus orca)

a mammal that belongs to the dolphin family, the genus of killer whale. The male killer whale is about 10 meters long and weighs around 8 tons. Females are smaller: their length reaches 8.7 meters. The pectoral flippers of killer whales have a wide oval shape. The teeth of killer whales are quite long - up to 13 cm in length. The sides and back of the mammal are black, the throat is white, and there is a white stripe on the belly. There are white spots above the eyes. Sometimes completely black or white individuals are found in the waters of the Pacific Ocean. The killer whale lives in all waters of the world's oceans, except Sea of ​​Azov, Black Sea, Laptev Sea and East Siberian Sea.

Common dolphin , also called Belobochka, is a skilled swimmer who can reach speeds of up to 45 km/h. Dolphins- These are friendly pack animals.
DIMENSIONS
Body length: 1.7-2.6 m.
Weight: 80-120 kg.
Number of teeth: 160-200 pieces.

REPRODUCTION
Puberty: from 4-5 years.
Mating season: in the North Atlantic Ocean - October-December, most of the cubs are born in September and October.
Pregnancy: 10-11 months.
Number of cubs: 1.

LIFESTYLE
Habits: stay in flocks.
Food: Mainly herring and sardines, as well as fish living in coastal waters.
Sounds: squeaks, whistles, sounds reminiscent of creaking.
Life expectancy: up to 25 years.

The common dolphin has a smooth, spindle-shaped body. The back is usually black with a brown or purple pattern, the belly is white, but the color can vary quite a lot. Every few minutes the dolphin rises to the surface to fill its lungs atmospheric air.
REPRODUCTION. Dolphins are not a monogamous species, so they look for new partners every mating season. But dolphins are quite characterized by kindred feelings. They support each other in, for example, females help other females during childbirth. 10-11 months after mating, the female gives birth to one baby. The baby is born tail first, and the female needs to immediately bring it to the surface so that the baby’s lungs are filled with air. She is usually helped by 1-2 females. The “midwives” push the woman in labor to the surface and look to see if there is a shark swimming nearby. The female feeds the cub with milk. The baby suckles from its mother quickly, with frequent breaks, emerging every few minutes to replenish the air reserves in its lungs. Newborns swim quickly, but during the first two weeks they stay close to their mother.
LIFESTYLE. Ordinary dolphins, or, as they are also called, common dolphins, are very sociable and friendly creatures. They are more often kept in families consisting of several generations of the same female. However, males and nursing mothers with young animals, as well as pregnant females, sometimes form separate temporary flocks. IN mating season sexually mature females and males gather in common schools. Dolphins inhabit the warm coastal waters of the Northern and Southern hemispheres, also appear in places where their relative, the bottlenose dolphin, lives.
The life of dolphins continues in search of food, hunting and playing. Dolphins communicate with each other in a special language, using a wide range of sounds. They breathe atmospheric air, so they often float to the surface to fill their lungs with it. Most species love games and fun. Dolphins are one of the funniest animals. Dolphins love to jump out of the water in groups vertically upward, i.e. "candle".
FOOD. The dolphin feeds mainly on sardines and herring. Since the dolphin is forced to regularly rise to the surface to fill its lungs with air, it often preys on pelagic fish that live in the upper layers of the water, as well as shrimp and cephalopods. Following schools of herring, sardines, capelin, mackerel or mullet, dolphins swim to the coast North Africa. IN cold period When schools migrate to other areas or when they are caught, dolphins move out of the region.
Dolphins communicate with each other using a special language - a special set of sounds: whistles, squeaks and creaks. Dolphins' sense of smell is rather poorly developed, so during joint hunting they communicate using sound signals. In addition, ordinary dolphins have a well-developed echo location. Using ultrasonic waves, they find prey, determine its type, size, location, and the speed at which it moves.

Did you know?? An ordinary dolphin can stay underwater for no more than 3-4 minutes, while a bottlenose dolphin can dive for as long as 15 minutes.
With each breath, the air in the dolphin's lungs is renewed by about 90 percent. In most mammals, only 15 percent of the air volume is replaced during inspiration.
There are no sweat glands in the skin of a dolphin; it regulates body temperature with the help of fins: blood, flushed from the animals’ swimming, flows through large vessels penetrating through the layer of fat in the fins near the surface of the skin, thus giving off excess heat to cold water.

SPEED COMPARISON. The dolphin swims quickly, but there are even more agile swimmers - whales and sharks.
Orca: 55 km/h.
Herring shark: 45 km/h.
Californian sea lion: 40 km/h.
Atlantic salmon: 38 km/h.
LIVING PLACE. Coastal waters tropical and temperate climatic zones, large populations living in the Black and Mediterranean seas. Dolphins, which feed on fish swimming in schools, constantly roam from place to place.
Preservation. In the past, residents of the Black Sea region often hunted white sided whales. Nowadays, dolphins are dying from becoming entangled in large fishing nets.

Dolphins are not fish at all, as many believe, but small aquatic mammals belonging to the order Cetaceans. Dolphins are directly related to whales and killer whales (the latter are actually large dolphins). Very distant relatives of dolphins can be considered pinnipeds and terrestrial predators leading an aquatic lifestyle (sea otters). This group of animals is vast and diverse and includes 50 species.

Bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus).

The common features of all types of dolphins are a naked, streamlined body, flexible and muscular at the same time, highly modified limbs that have turned into fins, a small head with a pointed snout and a dorsal fin, which most dolphins have. On the head of these animals the transition between the frontal part and the nose is well defined. Dolphins have small eyes and do not see well because they do not use their eyesight to track prey. They also lack tactile whiskers and a sense of smell. In our understanding, dolphins do not have a nose as such. The fact is that dolphins are so adapted to constantly living in water that their nostrils have merged into one breathing hole (blowhole), which is located on... the parietal part of the head. This allows animals to breathe when their body is almost completely submerged in water. In addition to the nose, dolphins also lack ears. But they have hearing, it just works in an unusual way. In the absence of external auditory openings, the perception of sounds was taken over by the inner ear and air cushions in the frontal part of the brain, which act as a resonator. These animals have perfect echolocation! They pick up the reflected sound wave and thus determine the location of the object. By the nature of sound vibrations, dolphins also determine the distance to an object and its nature (density, structure, material from which it is made). Without exaggeration, we can say that dolphins literally see the world through sounds and see it much better than other creatures! The dolphins themselves make sounds similar to crackling, clicking, clicking and even chirping. The sounds made by dolphins are extremely diverse and complex; they consist of many individual modulations and are used by animals not only for communication, but also for communication with the outside world. Dolphins have numerous teeth (40-60 pieces), small and uniform. This structure of the dental system is due to the fact that dolphins only catch prey, but do not chew it. The body of dolphins is completely naked, devoid of even the slightest rudiments of hair. Moreover, the skin of these animals has special structure, reducing water friction and improving the hydrodynamic properties of the body.

Common dolphin or common dolphin (Delphinus delphis).

Since dolphins are very mobile and constantly move in the water high speeds, the outer layer of skin is constantly worn out. Therefore, the deep layers of the skin have a powerful supply of regenerating cells that are constantly dividing. A dolphin goes through 25 cell layers of skin per day! We can say that these animals are in a state of continuous molting. Dolphins have two types of coloring: monochromatic (gray, black, pink) and contrasting, when large areas of the body are painted black and white.

Commerson's dolphin (Cephalorhynchus commersonii) has a bright black and white coloration.

Dolphins live exclusively in water bodies, never leaving the water column. The range of these animals is very extensive and covers almost the entire Earth. There are no dolphins only in the coldest Arctic and sub-Antarctic waters. Basically, these mammals live in salty waters - seas and oceans, but some species of dolphins (Chinese and Amazonian river dolphins) live in large rivers. Dolphins prefer open spaces, moving freely across the ocean, but sometimes they come close to the shore and even play in the surf. Another phenomenon associated with this is the so-called stranding of dolphins. Cases of individual animals and even entire schools of dolphins being found on the shore have long been known. Discarded animals are always healthy and often still alive. For what reason they end up on the shore, scientists are still arguing. It is impossible to blame dolphins for errors in movement, because their echolocating abilities are highly developed. The idea that dolphins do this on purpose is untenable, since not a single animal is capable of suicide. It is most likely that dolphins end up on the shore due to information “noise” - large quantity sounds made by ship engines, radio frequency beacons, etc. The dolphins' sophisticated echo sounder picks up this cacophony, but their brains are not able to filter out so many sound sources, as a result, the animals see an erroneous "map of the area" and become stranded. This confirms that dolphins die more often in areas of busy shipping and generally close to human civilization.

A school of common dolphins.

All types of dolphins are school animals; their groups can number from 10 to 150 individuals. Social relations they are very developed. These are friendly animals that maintain peaceful relations with each other; there are no fights or fierce competition between them. But the pack has its own leaders, more experienced animals and young animals. They communicate with each other using sounds of different tones and durations; each member of the herd has their own individual voice. With various signals, dolphins inform each other about impending danger, the availability of food, or the desire to play. Moreover, dolphins indicate each category of objects with their own sound. For example, when a killer whale approaches ( dangerous predator) dolphins “speak” differently than when a whale approaches (just a neighbor), they can combine simple sounds into Difficult words and even suggestions. This is nothing more than a speech! That is why dolphins are considered one of the most highly developed animals, putting their intelligence on the same level as apes.

A flock of bottlenose dolphins looks at the underwater photographer with interest.

There is another little-known side to the dolphin mind. Due to their high level of development, these animals have a lot of free time that is not spent searching for food. Dolphins use it for communication, games and... sex. These animals engage in sexual intercourse regardless of the breeding season and the biological cycle of each member of the herd. Thus sexual relations serve not only for procreation, but also for pleasure. Dolphins also love to play “outdoor games,” as we would call them. They practice jumping out of the water forward, upward, or twisting around their axis like a corkscrew.

By moving its strong tail, a dolphin is able to lift its body above the water, hold it for several seconds, and even move backwards (tail stand).

Dolphins have one more thing in common with humans little known fact. It turns out that despite differences in physiology, dolphins can suffer from diseases that are quite human; in captivity, cases of liver cirrhosis, pneumonia and brain cancer have been recorded.

Dolphins feed exclusively on fish. They prefer small and medium-sized fish - anchovies, sardines. The fishing technique of dolphins is unique. First, the herd scans the water column using echolocation; when a school of fish is detected, the dolphins quickly approach it. Along the way, they make sounds of a special frequency that cause panic in the fish. A school of fish gathers together in a dense heap, and that’s all the dolphins need. As they approach, they work together to catch fish, often while the dolphins exhale air, the bubbles of which create a kind of barrier around the school of fish. Thus, these hunters can catch a significant part of the school of fish. Dolphins also have meal companions: seagulls and gannets monitor the behavior of dolphins from above and, while feeding, attack schools of fish from the air.

A common dolphin fishes with a shark (in the background). In this case, the shark does not pose a threat to the dolphin.

Dolphins are breeding all year round. They don't have any special marriage rituals, but it is usually the leading male of the herd who mates with the female. Mating occurs while moving, and the birth of a baby dolphin occurs while moving. Dolphin calves, like all cetaceans, are born tail first. This is due to the fact that the newborn is under water and for the first breath he must first rise to the surface. Dolphin calves are born so well developed that from the very first seconds of life they swim independently after their mother. However, the mother and members of the herd nearby help the baby rise to the surface, pushing it with their noses. The cub often suckles from its mother, thanks to the nutritious milk it grows quickly. Communicating with relatives, the cub learns from them the art of hunting and soon begins to participate in the life of the herd on an equal basis with adults.

The main enemies of dolphins are sharks and... their own relatives. One of the most large species dolphins - killer whale - hunts for warm-blooded inhabitants of the seas. Smaller species often become its prey. Since ancient times, humans have also hunted dolphins. True, dolphin hunting has never been carried out in industrial scale, because apart from meat (not the best taste) you can’t extract anything from a dolphin carcass. Therefore, dolphins were caught only local residents northern countries or sailors on long journeys. Despite this, these animals are still caught in some countries. Such a hunt looks cruel, because the meat of caught dolphins is only used as food for dogs and does not bring any economic benefit. Such actions are doubly absurd considering that many species of dolphins are endangered. These animals die in fishing nets, due to oil spills, and from injuries caused by ship propellers. At the same time, dolphins are often kept in water parks, where they undergo complex training programs and perform in entertaining shows.

The white-sided dolphin, or common dolphin, is up to two meters long and weighs from forty to sixty kilograms. Most often found on the open sea. If the end of the bottlenose dolphin's head resembles the neck of a bottle, then the white sided dolphin has an elongated snout, reminiscent of a beak. The body is blue-black, white on the sides, which is why they call the white-sided dolphin.

This species of toothed cetacean has other names - short-beaked, blubber, tyrtak, sharp-faced, common dolphin. But despite all this, it is the most widespread species in the world's oceans. It lives in the Sea of ​​Okhotsk, the Sea of ​​Japan and the Baltic Sea, in open water northern latitudes, Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. It’s easier to name where it is not.

Its large population is found in the Black Sea. But far from the shores. Holidaymakers crowded onto the beach. They point their fingers animatedly at the oncoming waves. They make noise, take pictures, film something. Looking closely into the surf, you see, about thirty meters from the shore, seemingly sedate sea animals, either plunging into the water or emerging from it. These are bottlenose dolphins. They cruise along the coast in search of food. When they see a joint, they transform both externally and internally. They become fast-paced and passionate. He grabbed the fish with his sharp teeth, and it was gone - it disappeared into the mouth. And then again there was an imposing air and some kind of sedateness in swimming.
Whiteside is not like that. You almost never see it off the coast. Her element is the open sea. Have you bought a ticket for one of our sea vessels that regularly approach the piers to take you, for example, to the dolphinarium on Big Utrish or take a ride on the waves for an hour - here you will certainly come across white sideds. The ship moved a decent distance from the beaches, picked up speed, and suddenly a cheerful school of dolphins appeared in front of its bow. Beautiful, slender, fast, streamlined, somewhat similar in shape to a spindle, they look at you and people with funny, intelligent eyes and seem to ask: “Well, who’s who...” It’s impossible to keep up with them. So they will accompany you until the very Big Utrish, glistening with white sides, which is why they were nicknamed “squirrels”.

But they can only entertain you at sea at a speed of forty to fifty kilometers per hour. But in dolphinariums, there you go. Whitetails cannot stand captivity; they prefer freedom. That’s why bottlenose dolphins mostly perform in dolphinariums.

Let's talk a little more about white-sided beetles - since this is their most common species in our country. The length of animals from the tip of the tail to the tip of the snout is on average from one and a half to almost two meters. Although larger individuals are not excluded. They live in the world for twenty to thirty years. Their teeth are shorter, but sharper than those of bottlenose dolphins. About one hundred and twenty pieces. Males are larger than females. Mating games fall in the spring and summer. The cubs are born in water after ten or more months and are fed by their mothers with their nutritious milk for up to four months, and then get food yourself. Their usual food is anchovy and sprat, although they do not disdain larger schooling fish and mollusks. They can dive to more than seventy meters. They are very attentive to old relatives. They can lift them with their united efforts to the surface of the water so that they can breathe air. Sharks and killer whales will get it from them if they suddenly decide to attack their young. People are perceived as their fellow human beings. I wouldn't mind playing with them in open water. However, it is better not to contact them. In sympathy for you, they can hit you in the side with a sharp snout so painfully that it doesn’t seem like much, although they had no intention of offending you. So it is preferable to admire the white sided from the deck of a yacht or ship and from there listen to their “speech”, reminiscent of the squeaking of mice or the grinding of rusty door hinges. Having acquired offspring, they live in families. But in winter they gather in large flocks of up to hundreds or more individuals. The vision of white-sided dolphins is weaker than that of bottlenose dolphins, but they have excellent hearing. Especially in water. They can hear the school of anchovy at a considerable distance from themselves. And there will be a merry hunt...They were hunted too. Because of fat, loaded with vitamins, skins that don’t need any water. They were exterminated by the thousands in all the coastal countries of the Black Sea. Now they have practically left them alone, which is why their population is growing.