Research Paper On Dolphins

Although they live in the water, dolphins are not fish, they are mammals. Dolphins are

Today, I will discuss how dolphins communicate and how symbolic language and collective learning makes humans different from animals. Dr Kathleen Dudzinski is the lead scientist reviewing dolphin communication and is also the director of Dolphin Communication Project which is a group of scientists concentrating on dolphin interaction. It’s important to establish that human language is unique in terms of our ability to use collective learning and symbolic language. We will compare this with dolphin communication and how human language can be advantageous.

Cetaceans use sound extensively in both communication, hunting, and navigation. However as humanity continues to make use of the ocean we are constantly filling it with equipment that produces high amounts of sound. These devices are starting to have an impact on cetaceans worldwide, from mass strandings often linked to military exercises to area denials caused by busy commercial shipping lanes and seismic surveys. If consideration is not taken towards this problem now it could develop into something that could have degrading effects on cetacean populations in the future.

Bottlenose Dolphins are a very interesting animal. They have a fusiform (Spindle shaped) body that allows them to move quickly in the water. Because of the Dolphins’ shape they have bilateral symmetry. They also have a dorsal fin, flippers, and a fluke. However, Bottlenose Dolphins do not have ears on the outside of their bodies, hair, or hind limbs. The color of this type of dolphin is usually a light grey color to a black. Their stomach is white and sometimes has a pink hue. One physical adaptation these dolphins have is a telescoped skull. The skull is like this because it allows them to breathe more easily while swimming. Bottlenose Dolphins also have blubber that they use as insulation and vascular shunts that allow them to have cooling for certain types of organs and tissues in their bodies. Finally, Bottlenose Dolphins have sharp teeth that let them grasp onto their prey, so their tongue can push the prey down the dolphin’s throat. Bottlenose Dolphins have a range mass of 260 to 500kg which is 572.69 to 1101.32 in pounds. The average mass of the Bottlenose Dolphin is 400kg. Their average mass in pounds is 881.06.

Dolphins, and all marine mammals, are protected from harassment by federal law; under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Harassment means “any act of pursuit or annoyance which has the potential to disturb the dolphins in the wild by causing disruption of their behavioral patterns of migration, nursing, breeding, sheltering, or resting and

David and Melba Caldwell were the first investigators postulating that signature whistles may represent a unique vocalization, different for each dolphin. These stereotyped whistles seem to be stable for a long time (Sayigh et al. 1990, 2007; Bruck, 2013; Luís et al., 2015), suggesting that these signals may be involved in individual identification (Caldwell & Caldwell, 1965; Tyack 1986; Caldwell et al., 1990; Sayigh et al., 1990; dos Santos et al., 2005).

There were so many species that I could name that are dolphins, but my favorite is Bottlenose Dolphins. Males are considered as bull and females are considered as cow, weird right. What I like is the babies are considered to name as pup or calf. Usually dolphins are always in a group called pods or school. The Bottlenose dolphin is probably one of the best-known species of dolphins.

The Bottle-nosed Dolphin is the most studied and generally the best-known species of dolphin. Bottle-nosed dolphins are classified "Tursiops truncates" in scientific name, and belong to the family Delphinidae, in the suborder Odontoceti, order Cetacea.          

Randall Wells and his team observed groups of male dolphin behavior in Sarasota Bay, Florida.

Amazon River dolphins, like all dolphins, are cetaceans, a specific type of mammal (Odell 354). Some subspecies of the Amazon River dolphin include the Bolivian and Araguaian River dolphin. Another name for the dolphin is the Pink River Dolphin (Amazon River Dolphin).

Dolphins can produce a variety of different sounds for different purposes. Each individual sounds different, and even produces it own variety of clicks or noises. For example, bottlenose dolphins use certain tones of whistles to communicate ‘pleasantries’ to one another. They also can produces barks or wailing that is considered a series of longer duration clicks

They are single species and are mostly found in tropical waters. The temperature of water they usually are most comfortable in is in between 10-32°C. However, Bottle nose dolphins can be different depending on where they are located. (Wells, Eide, etc., 2000)

According to the site Dolphin Communication Project, dolphins (2016) produce many signals in different modes, which can include: vocal signals, non-vocal auditory signals, visual signals and tactile signals. Dolphins use mostly vocal signs and they produce two kinds of vocal signs: pure tones and pulsed sounds. Pure tones can take the form of whistles, chirps, screams, and other continuous sounds. Scientists refer to these as ‘frequently modulated sounds’, which means that the pitch of the sound changes with time. Also, scientists have leaned that dolphins are able to reproduce manmade whistle structures with precise accuracy. Dolphins produce whistles at social situations, they produce different whistles in different situations, and scientists

Dolphins’ senses are very developed. Most dolphins have acute eyesight, both in and out of the water, and they can hear frequencies ten times or more above the upper limit of adult human hearing. Hearing is also used for echolocation, which all dolphins have. Dolphin teeth are believed to function as antennae to receive incoming sound and to pinpoint the exact location of an object. Beyond locating an object, echolocation also provides the animal with an idea on the object's shape and size, though how exactly this works is not yet understood. The dolphin's sense of touch is also well-developed, with free nerve endings densely packed in the skin, especially around the snout, pectoral fins and genital area. However, dolphins lack an olfactory

viewing Dolphins that are held in tanks do not replicate their natural habitats. the dolphins are trained to behave in ways that they would not in the wild. This does not give people an insight into the dolphins natural behavior. Scientific research involving captive dolphins only advanced scientists understanding of dolphins to a small extent. Most of the published scientific research from dolphins in captivity addresses captive breeding practices. This research does not benefit conservation as it is only used in