The Social Life of a Dolphin

This topic goes very nicely with lemongrass tea ;)

Dolphins are basically the social butterflies of the sea. Depending on the species they can live in pods (a term that refers to a community of Dolphins) that may have up to 12 individuals. Although, when living in an area that has very large food quantities, they sometimes form something called a superpod, which refers to different pods coming together to form one giant pod. Think about it like in Transformers when they all decide to gather their robots into one giant robot…but in this case, it's in the form of up to 1,000 dolphins. Even more awesome if you ask me.

Being in a pod of dolphins isn't like being in cult. Once in a pod, the dolphin is not forced to stay in that pod for eternity. Dolphins are actually pretty chill like that. It's like finding the right pair of trousers really. You try on the trousers, if you like them and they fit, buy the trousers. If they don't, leave the trousers behind and look for new trousers. If you buy the trousers and they don't fit later, you can always donate them or throw them away. This is as such for the dolphin. Pods are interchangeable and trial friendly. :)

I'm not exactly saying that dolphins aren't loyal to each other. In fact, the ill or injured dolphins of the pod are usually card for by the other members. Kind of like helping your grandma up the stairs or carrying her groceries, dolphin aid usually can go to the length of one dolphin helping the other to the surface so that it can breath. In fact, Dolphins even help others outside their species like baby whales and their mothers. So if you're ever in need, a dolphin can usually help as long as you're in the ocean. Seriously though, it's been seen in New Zealand; dolphins helping pygmy sperm whales out of shallow water where they are stranded and even quite a few times when dolphins protected human swimmers from shark attacks.

So how might one speak with a dolphin? Well, dolphins use both verbal and nonverbal communication. They use clicks and whistles as well as gestures.

So….what do you guys know about dolphins and their social behaviours?