Amazing marine inhabitants, dolphins are mammals, and by no means fish, despite the fact that they spend their whole lives in the water element. These creatures are very beautiful and smart, therefore they are kept by man in artificially created aquariums and are used as a very original therapy.
Further in the article, we will get acquainted with the climate in which the dolphins live, and we will find out some interesting facts about these unusual creations of wildlife.
Brief introduction
Dolphins are members of the mammals of the cetacean order. There are several genera of such animals that differ in structural features and body size, however, all of them are predators. The habitat of dolphins of most species is sea water, only some representatives of this family are found in rivers.
These animals are distinguished by the ability to develop quite impressive speed in water, they are mobile, curious, and recent scientific studies have proved that their brain is well developed, much stronger than the hemisphere of chimpanzees.
Beautiful marine inhabitants use fish as food, and the following species are most preferable for them:
- anchovies;
- sardine;
- horse mackerel;
- hake;
- mackerel.
Dolphins also include squid and shellfish. Moreover, the diet is largely dependent on the habitat of the described animals.
Where do they live
You can meet these smart mammals exclusively in the water element, they live in almost all corners of the planet Earth, except for the Arctic and Antarctic. Most of them prefer the expanses of oceans and seas, however, as already mentioned, certain species are also found in large freshwater rivers.
Speaking in which climatic zone dolphins live, we can mention:
- moderate;
- subtropical;
- tropical.
In this case, mammals can travel long distances, leaving one belt and falling into another.
Examples
There are several genera of aquatic mammals, each of which prefers its own body of water. Let's find out in which climatic zone dolphins of various species and genera live:
- Bottlenose dolphins are common in the warm waters of the Atlantic Ocean, from temperate to subtropical climatic zones.
- Short-headed dolphins prefer a temperate climatic zone, some of them swim even further into the zones of pack ice.
- Squirrel cages - often found in the family - inhabit the Mediterranean and Black Seas, the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, preferring water to warm or moderate temperatures.
- Amazonian river dolphins live in estuaries, other fresh water bodies, sometimes even move to flooded forests.
River dolphins are found in such rivers as Brahmaputra, Indus, Orinoco, Ganges. Among mammals there are also inhabitants of lakes - dolphins were discovered in the Chinese reservoirs of Poyanghu and Dongting.
In Russia
Consider the habitat of dolphins in Russia. These are three seas:
In addition, in the Sea of Okhotsk one can sometimes find swimming bottlenose dolphins.
A rare species listed in the Red Book is the Atlantic white-sided dolphin. Prefers the waters of the harsh Barents Sea. The average body size of this marine inhabitant is small, not more than 3 meters. You can recognize them by the characteristic color of the sides, which are decorated with a long strip of white or light yellow color. This species is very careful, rarely sails up to ships, and therefore is poorly studied.
The Black Sea is the habitat of three species of dolphins:
- Porpoises (they can also be seen in the Baltic Sea).
- White-faced.
- Bottlenose dolphins.
Let's get acquainted with the life features of Russian aquatic mammals.
Porpoises, or azovka, are small creatures, their weight does not exceed 30 kg, the body length of an adult is not more than 1.5 m. Small fish species serve them as food, less often invertebrates. To get food, they dive to a depth of more than 70 m, where they can stay for more than 5 minutes.
White sea barrels of the Black Sea are small representatives of their family. Their length rarely exceeds 2 m. They have sharp teeth, the number of which is about 200, and thanks to the white color of their belly they are easily recognizable. This creature can be in the water for about 8 minutes, and jumps out of it to a height of more than 5 m.
Finally, bottlenose dolphins are the largest representatives of the Black Sea dolphin family . They are protected, however, once a year, several of these mammals can be caught for aquariums.
A selection of interesting facts
We examined in which climatic zone dolphins live. The answer is in the tropics, subtropics and temperate zone. We offer you to familiarize yourself with a number of interesting facts related to these mammals:
- Communication of these unusual creations of nature occurs through ultrasound, but they perfectly mimic the voices of other living creatures, including the human one.
- Dolphins have complex emotions, they can feel compassion and have fun.
- Despite the fact that the dolphin's jaw has more than a hundred teeth, they do not chew food, but swallow it whole.
- They can recognize their reflection in the mirror.
- Some species are able to stay awake for more than 5 days without damage to their health.
- Females bear offspring for 9-16 months, always give birth to one cub, which may not sleep for 30 days, forcing the mother to stay awake.
- If mammals live in the waters of the seas and oceans for up to 50 years, then in captivity their life span is reduced by more than 2 times.
We examined in which climatic zone dolphins live, and also got acquainted with some interesting facts from their life. Dolphins are surprisingly smart creatures, the observation of which will bring real joy to both children and adults.