What Is A Group Of Dolphins Called: Fun Facts That Kids Should Know

Dolphins are an effectively communicating species of aquatic mammals that live in almost all aquatic environments.

There are nearly 42 species of marine dolphins all over the world. Though they live in the deeper part of the ocean, they are mammals who come to the surface to breathe, just like whales.

Dolphins belong to the Animalia kingdom and Mammalia class. They have light gray to dark gray color on their backs, white under their bellies and below the jaws. In general, dolphins prey on fish, squids, and even larger mammals like seals.

Females of the species mate with a single male while male dolphins mate with multiple females. Females take complete responsibility for the young ones.

The average life span is 40 years, but in captivity, a dolphin's life can reduce. We all know dolphins are kept in captivity and trained well to perform and entertain guests.

Dolphins are warm-blooded animals, have body hair in the earlier stages of its life. Newborns are called calves who have body hair on their beak, which eventually falls off. Dolphins adapt well to the aquatic environment, where it is interesting how they serve and nurse their calves under deep waters.

Communication plays a crucial role in dolphins' life, and it helps them socialize during their hunt. They emit high-pitched sounds and whistles to find their species in the pods and hunt their food even in the dark phased ocean.

Just like humans, dolphins may express their emotions through communication. While swimming, dolphins follow three methods of communication. They are Social communication, whistles, and echolocation.

They are highly talented species that can learn the signature whistles of other dolphins. This echolocation system helps them to recognize surgical metals implanted in swimming humans.

Dolphins live in a fission-fusion society. So the whistles may help these marine species join together with any group or pod they wish to join. The other exciting behavior dolphins exhibit is they save and take care of injured dolphins from predators.

We hope this article is fun to read and informative about dolphin species. To learn other interesting facts, search for what is a group of bats called? And, what is a group of ducks called? Only on Kidadl!

Most Common Names For A Group Of Dolphins

Why do animals like to live in groups? It may be to protect themselves from predators.

Survival of the offspring may be easy if in groups; it is a social behavior where they can communicate well and play safely.

Similarly, dolphins are a social animal species that like to live in groups. They swim together, search for food together, and interact or communicate with each other in groups. The group of dolphins is called a pod. Each pod ranges from 2-12 individuals. The common names for a group of dolphins are pods or schools.

The dolphin species is observed to have three different types of pods, namely the maternal or nursery pods, bachelor pods, and smaller-sized immature pods. Immature pods have both young males and females of the species. This pod contains the dolphins removed from the maternal pod, whereas maternal pods have adult females and their young ones or calves.

In this social structure, babies are protected by the mother dolphin and learn new skills to live independently. Bachelor pod is a small group of adult males whose size is not very large in numbers. Bachelor pods are social groups that rarely interact with the other pods.

What is a group of baby dolphins called?

With torpedo-shaped bodies, dolphins are highly social creatures displaying female-biased sexual dimorphism where females are more significant than males.

Dolphins are very social animals; among them, bottlenose dolphins are a unique species often seen in pods; they hunt in pods or schools. The nursery pods consist of females and their offspring ranging in size from 5-20 dolphins. They are rarely seen mingling and forming groups with the males of their species.

So let us find out what a group of baby dolphins is called and more exciting things about these cute creatures.

Usually, calves or baby dolphins can stay under the mother dolphins' supervision for up to six years. They get trained to detect danger, hunt, and protect themselves from sharks, whales, and other predators in this period.

Baby dolphins, just like other young mammals, survive on their mothers' milk as their primary food for several years. They then shift their diet to solid food, such as small fish, once they learn to catch their prey.

As already mentioned, a group of dolphins is called a pod, and a group of baby dolphins is called a nursery pod.

In nursery pods, dolphin mothers accompany their young, stay together, and swim together with their offspring until they are six. Female dolphins share a strong bond with their babies and are often found helping and protecting the young ones from predators.

In comparison, male dolphins are rarely seen near the nursery pods. As calves develop, they leave the nursery pods and start spending much of the time in an immature pod, but occasionally come to swim with their family and mother dolphin.

When female dolphins become pregnant, they often join in the nursery pods until they give birth and raise their calves.

Name For A Large Group Of Dolphins

Dolphins are incredible at swimming. While swimming, they cannot turn their heads because of the fusing in their neck vertebrae.

Did you know dolphins come to the surface of the water to breathe? We humans are not conscious while sleeping, but dolphins are aware of the surrounding environment even as they sleep because they cannot breathe involuntarily like humans.

Due to this, dolphins often allow only half their brains' structure to sleep. The other half helps in protecting them by detecting danger and regulating the breathing process.

No wonder there are occasions where thousands of dolphins join together in a pod to have a yummy feast on their prey. When there is an abundant food source or during the mating period, these aquatic mammals may form a group size of 100-1000 (yes! That big!). These large pods are called super pods.

These super pods can contain almost every member of their family and species and may include similar dolphin species or other dolphin species. Super pods will remain only for a short period. Once the mating is finished, or they are full from feeding, they return to their family and form smaller pods again.

These super pods are visible in the deeper ocean; dolphins may form smaller pods in shallow water groups. In some pods, the mother, also called the matrilineal leader, plays a central role.

Pod Vs. School Of Dolphin

Though there are several dolphin species, the bottlenose dolphin is the most popular species. In Scotland, you can find these species making up the maximum pods.

Bottlenose dolphins are a species that can recognize themselves in the mirror, just like humans and apes. A bottlenose dolphin keeps one eye open and half a part of its brain active while sleeping to make sure to stick together with its pod and safeguard from predators like sharks and whales.

While hunting, these dolphins use their tail to hit the prey or fish and make them inactive.

Did you know what do we call a group of whales? A group of a whale is called a pod, just like our friendly dolphins. Other common names for a whales' group are a herd, gam, plump of whales, and even school of whales.

The male dolphins are called bulls; females are named cows, whereas adorable young ones are often called calves.

As mentioned, the most common name for a group of dolphins is a pod or a school. So, there isn't much difference between a pod and a school of a dolphin; they are the same.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for what is a group of dolphins called? Then why not take a look at what is a group of goats called? or dolphin facts.