^^setSpeed (90) ^^setForegroundColor (0,0,0) ^^setBackgroundColor ("156, 156, 206") ^^setFontFace (SansSerif) ^^setCenter(false) ^^setFontSize (10) ^^setURL (HiddenFrame, http://www.dolphinsfilm.com/hidden.asp?message=Scientific research provides important information that contributes to our laws and conservation policies.) Scientific research about dolphins provides important information. ^^pause(6000) ^^setURL (HiddenFrame, http://www.dolphinsfilm.com/hidden.asp?message=There are rescue and rehab centers for whales and dolphins all along America's coasts. They could use your help!) The dolphins could use your help! ^^pause(6000) ^^setURL (HiddenFrame, http://www.dolphinsfilm.com/hidden.asp?message=Dolphins are altruistic. Examples: Dolphins may help another distressed dolphin to the surface to breathe. They've been seen throwing themselves in front of an animal about to be captured by a fishing or whaling boat.) Dolphins show helpful behavior toward another dolphin or human. ^^pause(6000) ^^setURL (HiddenFrame, http://www.dolphinsfilm.com/hidden.asp?message=Dolphins grow quickly and develop a thick layer of blubber to keep warm. Dolphin mother's milk is 40 percent fat. Human milk is 1.4 percent fat and cows milk, 4 percent fat.) All female mammals, including dolphins, nurse their young with milk. ^^pause(6000) ^^setURL (HiddenFrame, http://www.dolphinsfilm.com/hidden.asp?message=The 'killer whale' has never been known to kill a person.) Orcas, or killer whales, one of the ocean's top predators, are the largest dolphin. ^^pause(6000) ^^setURL (HiddenFrame, http://www.dolphinsfilm.com/hidden.asp?message=Actually, all orca offspring stay together for life. When you see orca pods swimming together you might be looking at 3 or 4 generations of one family.) Male orcas never leave their mothers. ^^pause(6000) ^^setURL (HiddenFrame, http://www.dolphinsfilm.com/hidden.asp?message=Bottlenose dolphins live 40-50 years. The smaller dolphins, like the franciscana and the harbor porpoise may only live 15 years.) Male orcas live about 50 years, females about 80! ^^pause(6000) ^^setURL (HiddenFrame, http://www.dolphinsfilm.com/hidden.asp?message=One of the confusions over what's a whale and what's a dolphin arose because of common names given to cetaceans by whalers. They called everything over 15 feet a whale and anything under that, a dolphin or porpoise.) Pilot whales are also dolphins. ^^pause(6000) ^^setURL (HiddenFrame, http://www.dolphinsfilm.com/hidden.asp?message=Relatives may share nursing duties and they will even nurse after menopause. There has been at least one case of a female pilot whale letting her last off spring nurse 10 to 15 years! With the exception of pilot and killer whales, most males leave their mother and female relatives.) Female pilot whales are very committed mothers. ^^pause(6000) ^^setURL (HiddenFrame, http://www.dolphinsfilm.com/hidden.asp?message=Dolphins make up for the lack of smell with their highly sensitive tongues. They taste their environment. Dolphin skin is alive with receptors.) Dolphins, unlike other mammals, have little if any sense of smell. ^^pause(6000) ^^setURL (HiddenFrame, http://www.dolphinsfilm.com/hidden.asp?message=As one dolphin scientist said, 'they can't keep their flippers to themselves!') Dolphins love to touch and be touched. ^^pause(6000) ^^setURL (HiddenFrame, http://www.dolphinsfilm.com/hidden.asp?message=We think of dolphins as intelligent animals, but there is no test to measure intelligence. But, based on observations, we know that many dolphin, but not all, are good at problem solving. We know bottlenose and orcas are amongst the smartest.) We know that many dolphin species (but not all!) are good at problem solving. ^^pause(6000) ^^setURL (HiddenFrame, http://www.dolphinsfilm.com/hidden.asp?message=All dolphins are carnivores, meat eaters, but each species has different shaped mouths and varying number of teeth, which determines what they eat. The squid-eaters, like pilot whales and Risso dolphins, don't have beaks and multiple teeth.) Risso dolphins, don't have beaks and multiple teeth to grab their prey...so they just suck them up! ^^pause(6000) ^^setURL (HiddenFrame, http://www.dolphinsfilm.com/hidden.asp?message=Dolphins use echolocation to judge distance, size, shape, even texture, as well as the direction and speed of a potential prey or predator.) Dolphins have a special sence called echolocation. ^^pause(6000) ^^setURL (HiddenFrame, http://www.dolphinsfilm.com/hidden.asp?message=Echolocation allows dolphins to 'see', almost in an X-ray fashion, as studies have shown that dolphins can sense differences among bone, flesh and air sacs in the body of another animal.) Echolocation allows dolphins to 'see', almost in an X-ray fashion. ^^pause(6000) ^^setURL (HiddenFrame, http://www.dolphinsfilm.com/hidden.asp?message=Spinner dolphins are so-named because they erupt from the water and rotate as many as six times before splashdown. ) Spinner dolphins are so-named because they erupt from the water and rotate. ^^pause(6000) ^^setURL (HiddenFrame, http://www.dolphinsfilm.com/hidden.asp?message=Come back to the Dolphin Film web site often to find more interesting dolphin facts) Dusky dolphins at times travel in pods of 1000 or more members. ^^pause(6000) ^^setURL (HiddenFrame, http://www.dolphinsfilm.com/hidden.asp?message=Come back to the Dolphin Film web site often to find more interesting dolphin facts) Rough-toothed dolphins generally live in deep, warm water areas of the ocean. ^^pause(6000) ^^setURL (HiddenFrame, http://www.dolphinsfilm.com/hidden.asp?message=Come back to the Dolphin Film web site often to find more interesting dolphin facts) Dolphins can be aggressive with each other and with humans. ^^pause(6000) ^^setURL (HiddenFrame, http://www.dolphinsfilm.com/hidden.asp?message=Come back to the Dolphin Film web site often to find more interesting dolphin facts) Some dolphin species live in groups of less than a dozen individuals. ^^pause(6000) ^^setURL (HiddenFrame, http://www.dolphinsfilm.com/hidden.asp?message=Come back to the Dolphin Film web site often to find more interesting dolphin facts) All dolphin species are highly social. Lone individuals do exist, but it's rare. ^^pause(6000) ^^setURL (HiddenFrame, http://www.dolphinsfilm.com/hidden.asp?message=Come back to the Dolphin Film web site often to find more interesting dolphin facts) All dolphins and whales belong to the scientific order called Cetaceans. ^^pause(6000) ^^setURL (HiddenFrame, http://www.dolphinsfilm.com/hidden.asp?message=Come back to the Dolphin Film web site often to find more interesting dolphin facts) Exact causes of dolphin strandings still baffle scientists. ^^pause(6000) ^^setURL (HiddenFrame, http://www.dolphinsfilm.com/hidden.asp?message=Dolphins can swim more than 70 miles a day in the open sea and reach speeds higher than 20 miles per hour.) Dolphins can swim more than 70 miles a day at speeds higher than 20 miles per hour. ^^pause(6000) ^^setURL (HiddenFrame, http://www.dolphinsfilm.com/hidden.asp?message=In some dolphin societies, young males will chase females down and kidnap them for hours or days.) In some dolphin societies, young males will kidnap females. ^^pause(6000) ^^setURL (HiddenFrame, http://www.dolphinsfilm.com/hidden.asp?message=Some dolphins live in the deep ocean (and therefore travel in large groups for feeding and protection from predators). Other dolphin species live in shallow, coastal or near-coastal waters.) In dolphin societies, talents and behaviors are different, depending on their environment. ^^pause(6000) ^^setURL (HiddenFrame, http://www.dolphinsfilm.com/hidden.asp?message=Come back to the Dolphin Film web site often to find more interesting dolphin facts) Sound travels 4.5 times faster in water than it does in the air. ^^pause(6000) ^^setURL (HiddenFrame, http://www.dolphinsfilm.com/hidden.asp?message=Come back to the Dolphin Film web site often to find more interesting dolphin facts) Animals of all kinds are used in various therapies with children and adults. It's called zootherapy. ^^pause(6000) ^^setURL (HiddenFrame, http://www.dolphinsfilm.com/hidden.asp?message=Bottlenose dolphins, and maybe others, produce their own signature whistle, which are like names, allowing dolphins to identify one another by sound.) Bottlenose dolphins produce their own 'signature' whistle. ^^pause(6000) ^^setURL (HiddenFrame, http://www.dolphinsfilm.com/hidden.asp?message=Cetaceans don't have vocal chords, like humans. Their clicks and whistles are produced in air sacs in the soft tissue below their blowhole.) Cetaceans don't have vocal chords, like humans. ^^pause(6000) ^^setURL (HiddenFrame, http://www.dolphinsfilm.com/hidden.asp?message=Come back to the Dolphin Film web site often to find more interesting dolphin facts) A dolphins' sounds are directed forward and out of the head through their melon. ^^pause(6000) ^^setURL (HiddenFrame, http://www.dolphinsfilm.com/hidden.asp?message=Whistle languages are also used by humans. Natives of the Azore Islands and some tribes in Mexico communicate over distances using complex whistles.) 'Whistle'; languages are also used by humans. ^^pause(6000) ^^setURL (HiddenFrame, http://www.dolphinsfilm.com/hidden.asp?message=It is illegal to swim with wild dolphins in the United States and other countries. Scientists and filmmakers must get special permits in order to interact with wild dolphins.) It is illegal to swim with wild dolphins. ^^pause(6000) ^^setURL (HiddenFrame, http://www.dolphinsfilm.com/hidden.asp?message=Many people have been injured when closely interacting with them in the wild, and unfortunately, most of those injuries have occurred when people have been illegally feeding them.) As wild animals, dolphins are unpredictable. ^^pause(6000) ^^setURL (HiddenFrame, http://www.dolphinsfilm.com/hidden.asp?message=Dorsal fin shape and edge notch patterns may be used for identification of individual animals.) The dolphin's dorsal fin is the upward projecting fin on their backs. ^^pause(6000) ^^setURL (HiddenFrame, http://www.dolphinsfilm.com/hidden.asp?message=Flippers help them steer through the water.) The pectoral fins on a dolphin are its flippers and are located right where their arms might be. ^^pause(6000) ^^setURL (HiddenFrame, http://www.dolphinsfilm.com/hidden.asp?message=Come back to the Dolphin Film web site often to find more interesting dolphin facts.) A dolphin's broad tail is called a fluke. The flukes help propel the dolphins through the water. ^^pause(6000) ^^setURL (HiddenFrame, http://www.dolphinsfilm.com/hidden.asp?message=In many cetacean species, when it raises its fluke and slaps it against the water, it's called 'lobtailing' and is thought to show irritation or aggression.) 'Lobtailing'; is thought to show irritation or aggression. ^^pause(6000) ^^setURL (HiddenFrame, http://www.dolphinsfilm.com/hidden.asp?message=Come back to the Dolphin Film web site often to find more interesting dolphin facts.) Many mammals, including dolphins, enjoy play! ^^pause(6000) ^^setURL (HiddenFrame, http://www.dolphinsfilm.com/hidden.asp?message=In a small village in Brazil and in a few other locations around the world, wild dolphins fish cooperatively with humans. The dolphins will herd fish into nets as the people stand in the water near shore. Both dolphins and fishermen get to eat!) Wild dolphins sometimes fish cooperatively with humans. ^^pause(6000) ^^setURL (HiddenFrame, http://www.dolphinsfilm.com/hidden.asp?message=Two dolphins are dangerously close to extinction: the baiji of the Yangtze River in China and the vaquita, found only in the northern Gulf of California.) Two dolphins are dangerously close to extinction. ^^pause(6000) ^^setURL (HiddenFrame, http://www.dolphinsfilm.com/hidden.asp?message=Our pollutants are ingested by each successive animal in the food chain, becoming even more concentrated in the largest predators, like dolphins and whales. ) Our pollutants are endangering dolphins and whales. ^^pause(6000) ^^setURL (HiddenFrame, http://www.dolphinsfilm.com/hidden.asp?message=The animals of the ocean are not only bombarded by pollutants we've put in the water directly, but also made to suffer from all of the air-borne chemicals that have settled in our oceans' waters.) The animals of the ocean suffer from air-borne chemicals. ^^pause(6000) ^^setURL (HiddenFrame, http://www.dolphinsfilm.com/hidden.asp?message=Come back to the Dolphin Film web site often to find more interesting dolphin facts.) Everything you pour down gutters and storm drains eventually ends up in the ocean. ^^pause(6000)