One of the most common species of dolphins in Cancun that you will find in the Dolphin Centers is the Bottlenose Dolphin. This specie is found in Caribbean waters and gets its name from the shape of the dolphin's nose.
Common name: Bottlenose Dolphin
Family: delphinadae
Order: cetacean
Suborder: odontoceti (means that they have teeth)
Genus and specie: tursiops truncatus
These friendly animals live in all the oceans except near the poles. At the dolphin facilities, they eat capelin, herring, squid and sardines, among other types of fish. Depending on their age and activity, each dolphin eats between seven and twelve kilos of fish daily.
After twelve months of pregnancy, newborn dolphins are approximately a meter long and weigh about eleven kilos. Full-grown adults are normally from two meters, thirty centimeters to four meters long. In some cases, their weight varies between 150 and 400 kilos.
The dolphins are able to swim deep underwater, registering at about 540 meters deep during a training session. This is due to the fact that the blowhole of the dolphin is actually its nose and can be closed voluntarily for approximately 20 minutes.
A dolphin's vision is very good in and out of the water but it is with echolocation that they recognize what is around them and cannot be seen. From their melon (the dolphin's forehead), located in the upper part of their heads, they send sound waves in high frequency that bounce off objects. Dolphins can identify distance, size, shape, and color of the objects around.
Dolphins live approximately 35 years.
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