National Dolphin Day 2024 is on Sunday, April 14, 2024: Are wild dolphins in the ocean dangerous to swim with?

Sunday, April 14, 2024 is National Dolphin Day 2024. India Bihar observes Dolphin Day

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Yes. Dolphins have been known to form gangs 8-20 males large to rape other individuals. They're not picky at all about the gender of their victims, and are not discriminate about their species either. Many cases of dolphin rape exist, but are currently being covered up by the dolphin-obsessed environmental activists and the governments of countries that rely on dolphin tourism as a source of national income. Research into dolphin behaviour was conducted by several eminent cetacean biologists in Florida. Human decoys were placed floating in oceans and were observed for several days. In all cases, male dolphins were observed to have circled the decoys, blocking all exit paths, before dragging the victim down into the water. The researchers observed that the male dolphins displayed altruistic behaviour while repeatedly sexually assaulting the decoy, often taking turns. In most cases, the decoys stay underwater for 20 to 60 minutes depending on species, with dolphins surfacing to take breaths in between turns. There are over 14 reported cases of dolphin rape occurring in the U.S every year. Most of these cases occur near the shore, where the water is shallow and escape more likely. The number of dolphin-related deaths due to rape in deeper water is likely to be far more numerous, though eyewitnesses tend to mistake death by dolphin rape for drowning due to poor swimming aptitude as the highly intelligent dolphins rarely surface when attempting to rape a human in order to avoid detection. I would suggest that you bring along at least two highly-trained lifeguards to assist you in case of an emergency as dolphins are very strong swimmers. During my research, all participants entering the field had to have high swimming proficiencies before being allowed to enter the water, and we were always in groups of at least 7 as male dolphins have been known to gang up on groups of up to 3 female dolphins.

What is an average day for a zoologist?

If you don't think you will make enough money as a vet tech, you won't make enough money as a zoologist. Zoology is the study of animal physiology, taxonomy, ecology and behaviour. It's a very wide field and there is no such thing as a typical day. A BSc will not get you far either. A career in zoology is made up of two major components, schooling and experience. A BSc, as I said, will not get you far anymore and it's reccommended that you obtain at least a Masters (1 year in the UK, 2 in the US) or a PhD (4+) years if you want to go into research.

Pay is poor and due to the competitive nature of the field you are probably looking at doing, at best, several months of unpaid work experience or volunteering. The earlier you start the better and the more you have the better chances of getting a job; volunteering or interning at relevant places greatly increase your chances; aquariums, natural history museums, zoos, summer camps, work experience in National Parks any experience is good experience. As a recent graduate your typical day will probably feature you getting out of bed, checking the job sites for relevant jobs, writing several cover letters, filling in repetitive application forms, answering silly application questions (as if you were an animal, what animal would you be) opening several rejection emails and waiting in vain for feedback from failed interviews, then checking unrelated jobs working in shops or cafes to see if you can earn some money (racking your brain as to what you would put in your covering letter for that unrelated job as you have no real motivation to work there) while you are waiting for your dream job.

If you do get a job in the field, there is no such thing as as a regular day, it depends heavily on the field and what type of job you are doing in what position. I've worked mainly with marine mammal charities where the day usually started off with checking the weather to see if there was a likely survey day and if so ringing the boat owner to see if it was available on that day and if necessary booking it. A day in the office typically includes entering, double checking and analysing data, sometimes thousands and thousands of records, or in the case of cetaceans (dolphins and whales) you probably have loads of photo-id to catch up on. It's a bit like memory, you have a catalogue of known individuals and pictures you took in the field, now it's up to you to match the fin or fluke pictures so you can calculate population estimates and birth and death rates. You may also do some public awareness work, write articles for the press, website or this day and age, facebook and twitter while overseeing and/or training volunteers. Other days you may also conduct internet research or write grant proposals. Field days are typically long, starting as the sunrises and finishing after sunset. To do a line transect survey, a typical survey technique, you randomly pick a predetermined track from several options and follow that line at a set speed, only stopping if you find animals. Depending on your survey technique, you may stop and deviate from the line to do photo-identification and behavioural recording. When you get back in after 10-13 hours on a boat, you download pictures, clean the equipment and enter sightings into the computer.

It's worth mentioning that many people have slightly distorted views on the work of zoologists based on what is shown on TV documentaries ; people working with big charismatic animals, out in the field in glorious weather all day witnessing amazing behaviours. But TV programs are produced to appeal to the majority of people and the majority of people want to see big charismatic animals doing exciting stuff. Most people inzoology do not work with mammals or even vertebrates and even when you are working with charismatic megafauna, it's not as glamorous as it's made to look on the TV, for every day of field work you are looking at several days of data entry and processing and statistics and it's all decidedly hands off, not crocodile hunter style.

what are Chinese river dolphins?

Chinese River Dolphin / Baiji / Yangtze River Dolphin (Lipotes vexillifer)

Status

ESA Endangered - throughout its range

MMPA Depleted - throughout its range

Taxonomy

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Mammalia

Order: Cetacea

Family: Lipotidae

Genus: Lipotes

Species: vexillifer

Species Description

Weight: 500 pounds (220 kg)

Length: 8 ft (2.5 m)

Appearance: pale blue to gray on their back and white on the under side

Lifespan: about 25 years (based on an individual in captivity)

Diet: large variety of freshwater fish species

Behavior: very little is known about the behavior, but they depend largely on underwater sound for orientation, feeding, and communication and, just like most dolphin species, they produce clicks and whistles

The Chinese river dolphin is a freshwater dolphin and one of the most endangered animals on Earth. It is also known as the Yangtze river dolphin, baiji, white-flag dolphin, and white-fin dolphin. Nicknamed "Goddess of the Yangtze," it was regarded as the goddess of protection by local fishermen and boatmen in China (Zhou, 1991).

The Yangtze river dolphin is pale blue to gray on the dorsal (back) side, white on the ventral (belly) side. It has a long and slightly-upturned beak with 31-36 conical teeth on either jaw. Its dorsal fin is low and triangular in shape, and resembles a light-colored flag when the dolphin swims just below the surface of the murky Yangtze River, hence the name "white-flag" dolphin. It has smaller eyes compared to oceanic dolphins. A mature Yangtze river dolphin is about 8 ft (2.5 m) long and weighs about 500 pounds (220 kg).

Though it has been described in classical Chinese literature and folklore as early as 200 B.C., the Yangtze river dolphin was not known to the western world until 1916, when Charles M. Hoy, the son of an American missionary, shot one while duck hunting on Dongting Lake, China (Zhou, 1991). Subsequently, this species was formally introduced to the scientific community by Gerrit S. Miller, Jr., a curator at the Smithsonian Institute's National Museum of Natural History.

Just like the other species of river dolphins (the Amazon river dolphin, Inia geofrensis; the La Plata river dolphin, Pontoporia blainvllei; and the Indian river dolphin, Platanista gangetica), the Yangtze river dolphin originated from the ocean. The ancestor of the Yangtze river dolphin resided in the shallow sea that inundated the Yangtze River Basin during the globally high sea levels of the Middle Miocene period (approximately 20 million years ago). After the subsequent sea-level lowering and transition to a freshwater river during the late Neogene period, the dolphins remained and evolved to become the present-day Yangtze river dolphins (Hamilton et al., 2001).

The Yangtze river dolphin is thought to breed in the first half of the year, with the peak calving season between February and April. Gestation lasts 10-11 months, and a newborn calf measures about 3 feet (1 m). Dolphins reach sexual maturity at 4-6 years of age (Zhou, 2004). The life expectancy for the Yangtze river dolphin is about 25 years, based on an individual in captivity.

Very little is known about the ecology, behavior, and acoustics of the Yangtze river dolphin. Groups of two to six animals were most commonly seen, although aggregations of up to 16 animals have also been observed (Zhou, 2004). The Yangtze river dolphin feeds on a large variety of freshwater fish species (Zhou, 2004). These dolphins are generally shy of boats, and often expose only the top of the head, dorsal fin, and a small part of the back when surfacing (Zhou, 2004).

Due to the poor visibility in the murky Yangtze River, the Yangtze river dolphin depends largely on underwater sound for orientation, feeding, and communication. Just like most dolphin species, the Yangtze river dolphin produces two types of sounds: clicks and whistles (Akamatsu et al., 1998; K. Wang et al., 2006a). Clicks are believed to be used primarily for navigation and identifying prey and other objects in the surrounding environment (Au, 1993). Whistles are frequency modulated (pitch changes with time) sounds and are thought to be used for communication. (K. Wang et al., 2006a)