Do you know who dolphins are? These are not fish, as many think, they are mammals. Studying these animals, scientists have discovered many amazing and even fantastic facts. The article will tell about them and tell you what they eat, how they communicate and how long dolphins live.
Get to know better
Dolphins - mammals, whose native element is the World Ocean - belong to the order of cetaceans. In total, scientists counted 50 species of these animals.
Their distribution range covers the entire Earth, with the exception of the Arctic and the subarctic belt. Mostly they inhabit the seas and oceans, but there are also freshwater dolphins - a rare species of La Plata, Amazonian, Chinese river.
Further we will get acquainted with the description, structural features of this amazing animal, find out how and how much dolphins live.
Appearance, habits
The body of aquatic animals is streamlined, muscular and completely naked, with smooth skin. A hole is located on a small head - breathing. The snout is elongated, small eyes do not see well, there is no sense of smell, the average movement speed is quite low - 5-12 km / h. Due to small teeth and lack of masticatory muscles, they cannot chew and swallow small fish - sardines, anchovies - entirely.
Many inhabitants of the deep sea seem much better adapted to a complex habitat, but this does not affect how many dolphins live in their natural environment. These animals, of course, have enemies - sharks, stingrays, but they know how to protect themselves well. With acceleration and with very great force, they hit their opponent with their strong nose, and they mark them in weak places - gills or stomach. Since dolphins are social animals and always live together for 10-15 individuals, all together they very effectively fight off enemies. In addition, dolphins are endowed by nature with exceptional echolocation. With the help of sound vibrations, they accurately determine the structure of an object, its dimensions, material, distance to it. Therefore, studying the question of how long dolphins live, scientists found that the average duration of their life in the wild is 50-90 years.
What affects life expectancy
Observations helped to find out what are the main factors that influence dolphin lifespan:
- Food. In the natural environment, these animals feed mainly on fish, squid, shellfish and crustaceans. Although scientists already know for sure what dolphins eat, in captivity even with a strict diet, they are obese, which is associated with the limited space in the enclosures.
- Social environment. It is known that in nature dolphins live as one family, and when they are weaned from their relatives, they are very homesick.
- Habitat. These mammals love space, and a closed environment in captivity greatly shortens their life.
- Health. Scientists have found that they suffer from "human" diseases - pneumonia, heart disease and cancer.
As a conclusion, in nature these animals live much longer than in aquariums or pools. How many dolphins live in captivity? Not more than 10-15 years. So their main enemy is man.
How many years dolphins live, also largely depends on their species. Killer whales, minke whales and bottlenose dolphins live the longest - an average of 40-60 years. The Irrawaddy species lives up to 30 years. River dolphins live the least - 15-20 years.
