8 Fun Facts about Dolphins 🐬

Dolphins are pretty amazing creatures, and well known for their intelligence and playfulness. Here's a couple more dolphin facts you might not have known:

1. They are highly intelligent! Their brains are large compared to their body size, and they can exhibit complex behaviors, including recognizing themselves in mirrors, social behaviors (they even have unique names for each other, which they communicate through specific whistles), and problem-solving.

2. They use echolocation to navigate, just like bats! They emit sounds which bounce off objects, helping them determine the size, shape, and location of objects in their environment.

3. Dolphins are extremely playful, and often engage in play-fighting, surfing the waves, and playing with seaweed. They are also highly social, and live in groups called pods. Some pods contain more than a thousand dolphins!

4. Dolphins are always awake! They only sleep with half of their brains at a time, so they can continue swimming and remain alert even while resting.

5. They can jump as high as 20 feet in the air out of the water! They're also very fast swimmers, and can reach speeds of up to 20 mph!

6. They have the longest memory of all animals, even including elephants! Some species of dolphins can live up to 50 years old, and they can still remember the distinctive whistle of a dolphin they haven't seen in more than 20 years!

7. Unlike fish, dolphins are mammals, and they can't breathe underwater. Instead, they need to come to the surface to breathe. They have a blowhole on top of their heads to take in oxygen.

8. And yes, they use pufferfish toxins to get high. They handle the pufferfish carefully to release small amounts of toxins that have a narcotic effect.

What was your favorite dolphin fact?