River Dolphin

True Wild Life | River Dolphin | There are only four species of river dolphin still existing in river, lakes and estuaries in certain parts of the tropical Southern Hemisphere. River dolphins are also known as freshwater dolphins with one species however inhabiting saltwater estuaries known as the La Plata dolphin. The Amazon river dolphin (Boto or Pink river dolphin) is found in the Amazon river and the joining rivers, with the Amazon river dolphin being the largest species of freshwater dolphin. The Amazon river dolphin feeds on crabs, fish and catfish and is rarely hunted by animals other than humans.

The Ganges river dolphin (Indus River Dolphin) is found in Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan. The Ganges river dolphin is primarily found in the Ganges and Brahmaputra Rivers and their joining rivers in India, Bangladesh and Nepal. The Ganges river dolphin has long teeth that can be seen even when the dolphins mouth is closed. The Chinese river dolphin (Baiji) was once found only in the Yangtze River in China but sadly said to have become extinct in 2006.

Some river dolphins are thought to be blind, but other river dolphins still possess incredibly poor eye sight and many are therefore killed when accidentally coming into content with fishing boats and nets. Like other species of dolphin, the river dolphins hunt and communicate using echolocation, a process which involves the detection of low frequency waves that are emitted by all the living things. River dolphins are mainly found in darker, slow-moving waters but are known to venture into grasslands and underwater forests during the flood seasons. It is now, when the water is at the highest level that the baby river dolphins are born underwater.

River dolphins have a long, narrow beak and flexible neck which helps them to catch prey quickly and enables the river dolphins to turn quickly and more easily in the water. River dolphins are normally found on their own or in pairs but large groups of river dolphins will often come together to feed.

Dusky Dolphin

True Wild Life | Dusky Dolphin | The dusky dolphin is a medium sized dolphin found in coastal waters in the Southern Hemisphere. The dusky dolphin is most well known for its striped like appearance and its incredibly acrobatic nature. The dusky dolphin is found in large groups known as pods generally in the coastal waters of Peru and Australia. Due to the dusky dolphins frequent acrobatic displays and the fact they are often seen in large groups, makes the dusky dolphin a favourite for watchers and tourists alike.

Sadly the dusky dolphin population numbers are decreasing mainly due to the accidental catching of the dusky dolphins in fishing nets. The dusky dolphin is also purposefully hunted for its meat in South America. Although the dusky dolphin is not believed to be an animal that regularly migrates, dusky dolphins have been known to travel enormous distances across the oceans. The dusky dolphins are thought to do this when the dusky dolphins are searching for food or have possibly been lost from their original dusky dolphin pod and the dusky dolphin is busily trying to find it again.

Dusky dolphins are the smallest of all the dolphin species with the average adult dusky dolphin weighing a maximum of around 150kg. The dusky dolphin tends to feed mainly on small fish, such as anchovies and cephalopods such as squid and cuttlefish.

Dusky dolphins are most commonly seen off the coast of South Africa, South America and New Zealand where special tours are often available for those travelers wanting to see the dynamic acrobatics of the dusky dolphins for themselves.

Dolphin

True Wild Life | Dolphin | The term common dolphin tends to refer to the short-beaked common dolphin and the long-beaked common dolphin that are found in warmer seas worldwide. The common dolphin is generally found around the Mediterranean Sea but are also commonly seen in deep off-shore waters and to a lesser extent over continental shelves that are preferred to shallower waters. Some populations of dolphin may be present all year round, others appear to move in a migratory pattern.

Common dolphins travel in groups of around 10-50 in number and frequently gather into schools numbering 100 to 2000 individuals. These schools are generally very active socially with groups often surfacing, jumping and splashing together. Typical dolphin behaviour includes breaching, tail-slapping, chin-slapping, bow-riding and porpoising.

Common dolphins are among the fastest swimming marine mammals, with some possibly reaching speeds of over 40 km/h. Dolphins have been known to use both their speed and large group sizes to develop different ways of hunting prey.

Bottlenose Dolphin

True Wild Life | Bottlenose Dolphin | Bottlenose Dolphins are the most common and well-known type of dolphin. Bottlenose dolphins are found inhabiting warm seas worldwide. Bottlenose dolphins are grey in colour and grow between 2 and 4 meters long. These dolphins typically stay in groups from 15 to 2,000 in number, meaning that bottlenose dolphins can often be found in large groups. Dolphins are thought to be one of the more intelligent animals of the mammal world, along with bigger primates and humans. Dolphins are thought to communicate to other dolphins through a series of clicking sounds.

Bottlenose dolphins generally have a good relationship with humans and due to their intelligence, bottlenose dolphins have been trained by military forces for tasks such as locating sea mines or detecting and marking enemy divers. In some areas the bottlenose dolphins have been known to help the local fishermen by driving fish towards the fishermen and then eating the fish that escape the fishermens nets. Some interactions with humans however are harmful to the dolphins as people hunt bottlenose dolphins for food, and dolphins are often killed by accident when there is mass tuna fishing.

Bottlenose dolphins are generally known to have a calm and playful temperament, particularly around humans. As individuals, bottlenose dolphins are not aggressive by nature but if they feel threatened, bottlenose dolphins will use their immense pod size to their advantage which will often intimidate unwanted intruders.