About how many dolphins live, and about other interesting facts about these animals.

Do you know who the dolphins are?These are not fishes, as many think, they are mammals. Studying these animals, scientists have discovered many surprising and even fantastic facts. The article will tell about them and tell what they eat, how they communicate and how long the dolphins live.

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Dolphins - mammals whose native element is the World Ocean - belong to the order of cetaceans. In total, scientists counted 50 species of these animals.

The range of their distribution covers the whole Earth, forwith the exception of the Arctic and the subarctic belt. They mainly 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, features of the structure of this amazing animal, find out how and how long the dolphins live.

Appearance, habits

The body of aquatic animals has a streamlined shape,muscular and completely naked, with smooth skin. On the small head there is a hole - breathing. The snout is elongated, small eyes see poorly, the sense of smell is absent, the average speed of movement is rather low - 5-12 km / h. Because of small teeth and the lack of chewing muscles, they cannot chew and swallow small fish — sardines, anchovies — entirely.

Many inhabitants of the deep sea seem muchbetter adapted to a complex habitat, but it does not affect how much 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 large force, they beat their strong nose of the enemy, and mark in the weak points - the gills or the stomach. Since dolphins are social animals and always live together by 10-15 individuals, all together they are very effectively fighting off enemies. In addition, dolphins are endowed with the nature of exceptional echolocation. With the help of sound vibrations, they accurately determine the structure of the object, its size, material, distance to it. Therefore, studying the question of how long the dolphins live, the scientists found that their average life expectancy in the wild is 50-90 years.

What affects the lifespan

Observations helped to find out what the main factors affect the life expectancy of dolphins:

1. Nutrition.In their natural habitat, these animals mainly feed on fish, squid, mollusks and crustaceans. Although scientists already know exactly what dolphins eat, but in conditions of bondage, even with a strict diet, they suffer from obesity, which is associated with a limited space of aviaries.
2. Social environment. It is known that in nature dolphins live as one family, and when they are weaned from their relatives, they are very sad.
3. Habitat. These mammals love space, and the closed environment in captivity greatly shortens their life.
4. Health. Scientists have discovered that they suffer from "human" diseases - pneumonia, heart and oncological diseases.

As a conclusion, in nature, these animals live much longer than in aquariums or pools. How long do dolphins live in captivity? Not more than 10-15 years. So, their main enemy is man.

How many years have the dolphins lived, also in many waysdepends on their type. The killer whales, whales and bottlenose dolphins live the longest - 40-60 years on average. The Iravadia species lives up to 30 years. Least of all live river dolphins - 15-20 years.

5 interesting facts

1. They can talk. This has already been proven. These mammals distinguish underwater inhabitants and each is called differently.
2. The sensation was the discovery that at birth every dolphin in a flock is given a name.
3. Dolphins and humans are the only mammals in the world that have sex not only for procreation, but also for pleasure.
4. Dolphins recognize their reflection in the mirror.
5. Matriarchy reigns in the dolphin environment.