What Do Dolphins Eat
One of the questions that many people intrigued by dolphins wonder about is what do dolphins eat. These creatures renowned for their intelligence have fascinated human for years. While some of us had encounters with them is shows at large aquariums and from boat trips out to sea, the truth is that there is much about dolphins that is still not common knowledge.
Dolphins are mammals that are related to whales and porpoises. There are nearly forty species of dolphins and they vary in size from the Maui’s Dolphin size of 4 ft and 90 lb to the Orca or Killer Whale’s 30 ft and 9.8 LT; 11 ST. Dolphins are spread out all around the world and tend to habitat the shallower seas near the continental shelves. Dolphins belong to the family Delphinidae, which is the largest in the Cetacean order.
Are dolphins herbivores or carnivores? Well, they are carnivores because they eat meat in the form of octopus, small fish, shrimp and squid but there are also some dolphins consume planktons. The truth is the diet of a dolphin depends very much on where it lives. And much like humans, who have a wide variety of preferences, dolphins also show a range of interests in terms of things they like to eat. Some of them favor mackerel, herring and cod, while others show a preference for squid.
The size of the dolphin seems to determine the kind of food it chooses to eat also. Orcas or Killer Whales eat other marine mammals such as sea turtles or sea lions. Bottlenose dolphins eat several kinds of fish including mullet along with the ever-popular mackerel, herring, cod and squid. Dolphins are directed in their choice by what is seasonal and immediately available. The Chilean dolphin, which is also called black dolphin, is a small dolphin found off the coast of Chile and this small species eats tiny fish, cephalopods and crustaceans.
Experts, who have studied the question what do dolphins eat, indicate that on average, a dolphin with a weight of 90 to 95 pounds will consume the equivalent of 22 to 30 pounds of fish every day. The quantity of food that a dolphin eats is determined by what it eats. Fish such as mackerel or herring, have plenty of fat in them and this high calorie diet gives dolphins that feed on it adequate energy. A dolphin that feeds on squid does not get as many calories as squid does not offer as much fat, and so this dolphin may have to consume more in terms of quantity to get a corresponding amount of energy for its every day activities.
An exploration of the question what do dolphins eat also raises parallel ones about how these fascinating creatures get their food. Dolphins use varied methods for obtaining their food. There are some types of dolphins, such as the bottlenose dolphins, that work collectively to encircle a school of fish. Once they have herded their prey they swim in turn through the fish while eating as much as they need. Sometimes dolphins specifically herd the school of fish they are hoping to consume into shallow waters and this is referred to as corralling.
Other types of dolphins use a technique called whacking where they strike a chosen fish with their tails, in order to stun the fish, before they proceed to eat it. This attack even works on larger fish. Another method used for stunning the prey is sending a loud noise across the water to shock a fish and to send it into a stupor leaving it vulnerable for a dolphin attack. Some dolphins forage for food by picking up a sponge from the sea and pushing it through the mud in the shallower sections of the ocean.
The dolphins tend to use their cone-shaped teeth to interlock when they catch fish. As they swallow their food whole, they do not use their teeth for chewing.