The dolphin

📖 In short

It leaps out of the water, spins in the air, then dives back in… as if it's smiling at you! It's the dolphin, one of the cleverest and most playful animals in the sea. A dolphin isn't a fish but a mammal that breathes air through a hole on top of its head.

🤩 Did you know?

A dolphin breathes air like us, and holds its breath underwater.
A dolphin can leap high above the water and spin in the air.
A dolphin knows its friends by their whistles even after many years.
Some kinds of dolphins live in rivers, not just in seas.

🔎 Find out more

🌟 Family and friends

Dolphins live in groups that swim, play and help each other. If a dolphin is ill, its friends help it up to the surface to breathe.

🔍 Seeing with sound!

A dolphin makes quick clicking sounds that bounce off things and come back to it like an echo. That way it knows where its food is and what shape it is, even in murky water!

💡 Every dolphin has a name

Every dolphin has its own whistle, like a name, to introduce itself, and dolphins call each other with these whistles.

🎯 Sleeping with half a brain

A dolphin can't sleep deeply like we do, because it needs to remember to come up and breathe. So half of its brain sleeps while the other half stays awake!