What Do Dolphins Eat?

The worlds dolphin populations square measure created up from nearly forty species varied in size from one.2 m and forty for the Maui's dolphin, and up to nine.5 m  and ten tonnes for the Orcinus orca. they're found worldwide, principally within the shallower seas of the Davy Jones's locker. So clearly, with this a lot of variation inside the dolphin family, you'll expect constant variation in every species diet. So, whereas some dolphins eat fishes like herring, cod or mackerel, others species can opt to eat squids. Of course, the most important of all the dolphin species - the killer whales - will eat marine mammals like oceanls or sea lions and someday even turtles. Usually, the quantity of fish that they eat depends on the type of fish that they hunt. whereas mackerel or herring can contain lots of fatty oils in their bodies, squid won't have such a lot, therefore, to urge enough energy needed for his or her activities, dolphins can have to be compelled to eat lots additional squid than mackerel. On average, a dolphin with a weigh of two hundred to twenty five0 weight unit can eat between ten and 25 weight unit of fish a day.

As you'll be able to expect, numerous ways of feeding exist among and among species, some apparently exclusive to one population. Fish and squid ar the most food, however the false killer|dolphin} conjointly the} orca (the true killer whale) also take advantage of alternative marine mammals like seals. they need been famous to eat penguins and even ocean turtles!

One common feeding technique is social, wherever a pod squeezes a college of fish into atiny low volume, referred to as a bait ball. Individual members then move plowing through the ball, feeding on the shocked fish. Corralling is another technique wherever dolphins chase fish into shallow water to additional simply catch them. In South geographic region, the Atlantic bottlenose takes this more with "strand feeding", driving prey onto mud banks for straightforward access.

In some places, orcas come back to the beach to capture ocean lions. Some species conjointly hit fish with their tails, beautiful them and generally knock them out of the water.