Through this article you may raise your understanding as to what do dolphins eat. Dolphins are sociable mammals by nature which is why they are habitually found in zoos and water parks. One of the most common dolphins is bottlenose dolphin that is regularly kept under captivity. In the wild, these mammals are carnivorous and they forage in groups.
Over the recent years, scientists have discovered some of the advanced hunting techniques employed by dolphins. These animals are akin to hunt at coastal waters and they use echolocation to identify their prey.
By emitting a sonic pulse, which is reflected by the nearby fish or other prey, dolphins actually locate where the victims are. Bottlenose dolphins are thought to be trapped in the fish nets which indeed leads to the population decline. Dolphin is one of the most intelligent living animals on earth. Some species do not live in ocean; they prefer to inhabit rivers. Amazon River dolphin is one such species. Amazon River dolphins are considered to be endangered species.
What Do Dolphins Eat
Dolphins have a varied diet in that some prefer to eat different prey whereas others are restricted to a single population. Dolphins mostly consume fish and squid. They will also chase down fish in the shallow water. This is method is called Coralling.
Some other dolphin species including bottlenose dolphins have a unique method of catching small fish. They encircle the small fish while beating its tail down to produce dust particles so that these fish cannot see any escape route. The encircled fish then try to jump over the barrier created by dolphins (dust particles) which allows the dolphins to swallow as many as they can.
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These marine mammals are also renowned for foraging in groups comprising even thousands of individuals. They form a superpod momentarily in places where food is abundant. These species are likely to communicate by creating whistle-like sounds. Dolphins have also killed porpoises for reasons that are not known to scientists. Dolphins predominantly feed on mackerel, seals, fishes, cod, herring, and squids. They will also rely on squid more than the mackerel since the former does not have too much fat. Dolphins weighing 200 kg to 250 kg tend to consume 10 kg to 25 kg of food every day.
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