Bottlenose dolphins are only surpassed by humans in intelligence (if judging them by human intelligence).
Measuring intelligence in animals is different than in humans, but marine biologists do know that dolphins are fast learners that can also generalize and learn complicated language-like commands.
Like humans and great apes, dolphins have self awareness, proven by their ability to recognize themselves in mirrors.
Dolphin Feeding & Echolocation
Dolphins use echolocation to efficiently locate food out of their sight range. The dolphin does this by sending pulses of sound (chirps that come from their foreheads) into the water. When the sound pulses hit an object, the echo bounces back to the dolphin.
This works much like with bats only in the water. The type of echo and time it takes to reach the dolphin helps the dolphin identify the type of object and location.
The Hawaii bottlenose, and to a larger degree the Hawaiian spinner dolphins, feed mostly at night. Small pods may join together in herds to better encircle and capture fish.
After a night of fishing, the pod gathers back together to socialize, care for young, play and prepare for rest.
Hawaii's blue, warm waters are home to several species of dolphins, including the the bottlenose, Hawaiian spinner and spotted dolphins.
More than 3,000 bottlenose live in Hawaii's waters, and even more spinner dolphins do. Like whales, dolphins are cetaceans. Dolphins are highly evolved with bodies that have adapted well from the land to the sea: sleek, streamlined, graceful and powerful.
Hawaii dolphins can swim up to around 25 mph and leap boats in a single
Listen to more dolphins courtesy of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA.)..
Dolphins are very affectionate creatures and gather together in their pods after a night's fishing to socialize before resting.
They frequently come into contact with each other, similarly to how humans express affection. While dolphins are not monogamous, they are very caring creatures that look out for one another. If one dolphin is sick or in trouble, others come to help. Dolphins have also been known to rescue humans and other animals.
And they love to play! For example, dolphins will swim underneath one another, moving their pectoral fins back and forth, touching them together and moving away in a pattern of movement similar to patty cake. They also frequently play with objects and bubbles in games resembling catch and tag.
If you are in the water with dolphins, one might blow bubbles your way or invite you to play with a strand of seaweed!
To check out dolphins' strange sleeping habits and to learn about the types of dolphins you are most likely to see in Hawaii, read on...
How Dolphins Sleep
Later in the morning after the dolphins have socialized and nursed their young, they settle in together for their rest time. Groups of adult and older juvenile males protectively gather close to groups of females and babies.
The dolphins synchronize their breathing and in unison rise to surface and then lower, up and down in the cradle of the ocean, until the entire pod has drifted into off into a deep rest.
Because a dolphin must surface often to breath (through its blowhole), the dolphin rests with one side of the brain lightly sleeping at a time.
If you see a dolphin with one eye open and one eye shut, the dolphin is catching some needed zzzz's.
Boats or swimmers that chase after dolphins may be interrupting much needed rest or nursing, or they may be causing the dolphins overall stress, sometimes enough that the pod will permanently leave their residence for quieter waters.
(Dolphins have a very tight-knit society and do babysit for each other).
Many marine biologists believe that spinning is used for other types of communications
as well, along with possibly echolocation. Spinners also may spin (and do airborne somersaults) just for the sheer fun of it.
Fully matured Hawaiian spinner dolphins average 5 to 6 feet in length and weigh 130
to 200 pounds. This is much less than the bottlenose but still quite big if you are swimming along side one!
Hawaiian spinner dolphins are easy to recognize due to their three-tone coloring which appears as a dark grey cape on their backs with lighter gray stripes along their sides.
The spinner dolphins look very similar to the spotted dolphins (Stenella attenuataare) , especially juvenile ones that haven't yet got their spots. However the spotted dolphin's rostrum (the beak-like part of its face) is white-tipped. Also the spotted dolphins don't rest near shore as do the spinners. The spotted dolphins mostly hang out in the channels between islands.
Want to learn about swimming with dolphins and experiencing otherwise close encounters
with them? Bookmark this page and check back next week for a link here to "Hawaii Dolphin Swims & Encounters."In the meantime, here are some sensational, cetacean resources...
Click on picture for larger image of "Sleeping Dolphins." Image courtesy of Wild Side Specialty Tours
they leap up to 10 feet and limit boat activities to surfing in the wake or catching rides on the water propelled by the bow.
One of my best Hawaii memories to date is taking a snorkel cruise where the dolphins were leaping out of the water around the boat. The more we cheered and waved, the more the dolphins leaped up as if to say “Howzit."
I've seen the dolphins up close in the lagoon at the Waikoloa Resort, but that doesn't compare to the exhilaration of seeing the dolphins in their native habitat, wild and free.
Hawaii Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus)
The type of dolphin that you are most likely to see near a boat in Hawaii waters is the bottlenose. These dolphins often surf in the wake of snorkeling and other such boats. They ride the water off the bow, swim under the boats and even socialize with the humans.
The bottlenose are the friendliest of Hawaii dolphins and understandably the most popular of all cetaceans.
Flipper was a bottlenose. So are most dolphins in marine park shows and in dolphin encounter programs.
Adult bottlenose dolphins in Hawaii average 7 to 12 feet in length and weigh from 600 and 850 pounds. They have medium gray colored backs, silvery gray sides and white or pink bellies.
The inshore bottlenose live in social groups called pods that are formed with extended family and friends in a fluid hierarchy that has no one leader.
The inshore bottlenose we see on Hawaii's snorkel and dolphin/whale watch cruises live near harbors and along Hawaii's coastlines.
Hawaiian Spinner Dolphins
(Stenella longirostris)
A subspecies of the spinner dolphin,
Hawaiian spinner dolphins can often be seen early in the morning frolicking in the waves close to shore. Like their bottlenose cousins, spinners also approach people but more so out of curiosity than to say “Hi.”
While the spinner dolphins' intelligence is not on the same level as the bottlenose, they are very smart mammals.
Thousands of spinner dolphins live in Hawaiian waters, with over 2,000 living off Hawaii Island's Kona Coast where the largest populations congregate.
As implied by their name, they are extremely acrobatic. And yes, they spin! In fact, according to the Wild Dolphin Foundation, spinner dolphins can accomplish up to seven longitudinal turns in the air when leaping.
Marine biologists haven't come to a consensus on why spinner dolphins' spin. Some say the dolphins use spinning as a sort of exclamation point.
The dolphin may be exclaiming:
“Wheee I am so happy we get to play together!”
Or it could be telling a young one, “How many times must I tell you to mind Auntie when she is babysitting you?”
Hawaii Humpback Whale Songs, Photos Cetacean Society International is an all volunteer, non-profit conservation, education, and research organization based in the USA, with volunteer representatives in 26 countries around the world. Learn how you can help. Listen to the songs of humpback whales, view photos.and get book recommendations.
Whale Watching in Hawaii Hawaii's official tourism site. Read articles and watch "Mystery of Whales" video.
