Whales and dolphins can be found in almost every sea and ocean, from the Arctic ocean, through the tropics all the way to the Antarctic. Each species however has its own preferred type of habitat. Some live cold water only, others in tropical oceans only. There are also species that can be found in a large variety of environments, like the bottlenose dolphins, killer whales and sperm whales. source: P.G.H.Evans (1987) The Natural History of Whales and Dolphins.

There are probably many reasons why cetaceans strand, including illness, injury, being lost, or following a sick individual ashore. Perhaps the dolphin has come ashore because it is too weak to go on and can’t defend itself against predators. This is the reason why it is NOT recommended to push these animals back out to sea. Sometimes they strand singly and sometimes en masse.

There are many reasons for attempting to save stranded dolphins -- scientific, and personal. Medically, what is learned from the rehabilitation effort of a dolphin patient is important for that individual, but also, by increasing the body of medical knowledge, future stranded dolphins will have a greater chance at survival.

Dolphins have to be conscious to breath (Williams et al, 1990). This means that they cannot go into a full deep sleep, because then they would suffocate. Dolphins have "solved" that by letting one half of their brain sleep at a time. This has been determined by doing EEG studies on dolphins. Dolphins sleep about 8 hours a day in this fashion. REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep, usually associated with dreaming has been recorded only very rarely.

Most dolphins live in the ocean and the ocean water is too salty for them to drink. If they would drink sea water, they would actually use more water trying to get rid of the salt than they drank in the first place. Most of their water they get from their food (fish and squid). Also, when they metabolise (burn) their fat, water is released in the process. Their kidneys are also adapted to retaining as much water as possible.

Maybe, but probably not. Most life in the sea is lower on the food chain, and that is where this marine biology program will focus. Marine mammals of course will be included in your studies, but they will comprise a relatively small segment. At UH, most of the researchers working with dolphins are investigating various aspects of dolphin behavior. Thus these scientists, with some exceptions are affiliated with the Department of Psychology.

This program is focused on learning about and studying dolphins in their natural habitat. After learning about dolphins from marine mammal researchers, we will head out in small boats to identify and track the dolphin's movement. While the majority of the trip focuses on wild dolphin studies, you will have the opportunity to participate in a dolphin encounter on the final day of program. [Back to Top]

Despite the fact that they live in the ocean, dolphins are warm-blooded mammals that breathe air and suckle their young. They seem to have arisen from a family of hoofed land mammals, of which the dog-sized Mesonyx is an example.

Since no one has come up with a method to successfully rate the intelligence of a human being, measuring the intelligence of other species has proven difficult if not impossible. The evaluation of dolphins' intelligence is especially difficult, because they are adjusted to an entirely different medium, ie. water. However, we can say that dolphins are fast learners and are able to generalize and to learn sign systems.