You might not realize that dolphins are closely related to whales. The scientific order, called Cetacea, includes dolphins, whales, and porpoises. The largest dolphin is the killer whale! Find out more!

Dolphins work together to eat. They can herd schools of fish for group feeding. Some even use their clicking sounds for herding the fish. Bottlenose dolphins rush up onto mud banks to catch fish they’ve stranded there. Most dolphins eat fish, octopus, squid, and shrimp. Killer whales include seals, smaller whales, penguins, birds, and even small walrus in their diet.

Dolphins live and play in schools of five to hundreds of animals. Some can swim and roll in formation, just like synchronized swimmers. Dolphins also work together to help when one animal is sick, hurt, or giving birth.

They take turns pushing the hurt or young dolphin to the surface so it can breathe. Pods of dolphins will attack an intruder as a group and can even kill a large shark by ramming it as a group!

Dolphins use clicking sounds for echolocation, and many use whistles to communicate with other members of their pod, or group. In addition to clicks and whistles, researchers have described dolphin sounds as screams, calls, moans, trills, grunts, squeaks, and even a creaky door sound.