- Dolphins locate objects by using sound. They bounce high pitched sounds off of objects to sense where they are. This is called "echolocation" and it is the way that bats 'see' as well
- Dolphins have sophisticated hearing and navigate and hunt by using sound
- Like whales a Dolphin has a blow hole at the top of its head and must come up to breathe. So a Dolphin normally stays about 10-15 feet from the surface so it can come up to breathe often. However, a Dolphin can dive to over 500 feet if they want to
- Dolphins have a complicated system of communication using clicks and sound. They coordinate their hunting and social group using sound
- A dolphin sleeps with half of its brain shut down and one eye closed
- They have been playing and communicating with people from ancient times and still do
- To test for dolphin self-awareness, Diana Reiss of Columbia University and Lori Marino of Emory University exposed two bottlenose dolphins to reflective surfaces after marking the dolphins with black ink, applying a water-filled marker (sham-marking) or not marking them at all. The team predicted that if the dolphins which had prior experience with mirrors recognized their reflections, they would not show social responses; they would spend more time in front of the mirror when marked; and they would make their way over to the mirror more quickly to inspect themselves when marked or sham-marked. The experiments bore out all three predictions in both dolphin subjects. Moreover, the animals even selected the best reflective surface available to view their markings
- People have been known to be cured of cancer after swimming with dolphins. They have sometimes believed it is the ultrasonic sound they give off, although it may actually be human willpower. People have also used dolphins to swim with mentally retarded people
- Dolphins have been known to save people from drowning. Do they actually have a special love for humans,as some believe?