Dolphins Facts

Dolphins sleep with one eye open!

A BBC documentary captured footage of dolphins gently chewing on puffer fish and passing them around, behavior that filmmakers believe may be the dolphins seeking a mild intoxicating effect from the fish's toxins.

Dolphins can rapidly heal from extreme injuries, such as shark bites, and regenerate their original body shape.

Dolphins have names for one another.

In the 1960s, neuroscientist John Lilly conducted NASA-funded experiments where researcher Margaret Howe Lovatt lived with a dolphin named Peter for months, attempting to teach him to vocalize English words.

Dolphins sometimes have fun by blowing bubbles and creating rings of air underwater, which they then swim through.

Whales and dolphins can't taste anything other than salt.

In 2004, four lifeguards were swimming off Ocean Beach, New Zealand when a pod of seven dolphins suddenly herded them into a tight group and started circling. For 40 minutes, the dolphins swam inches from their bodies, slapping the water with their tails. When one swimmer tried to break away, two dolphins pushed him back. Only then did he spot the 9-foot great white shark circling two metres below them.

A dolphin named Kelly at a research center was trained to trade litter for fish. She started hiding paper under a rock, tearing off small pieces, and trading each scrap separately for maximum fish. Then she saved a whole fish, used it to lure a seagull into the pool, caught the gull, and traded that for even more fish. She taught her calf the system. Her calf taught other calves. The researchers realized they were the ones being trained.