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Dolphins Babies

Gestation

The gestation period is 12 months. A female dolphin can potentially bear a calf every two years, but calving intervals generally average three years and they will not have twins.

Delivery

Deliveries are usually tail-first. The umbilical cord snaps during delivery. Sometimes an assisting dolphin may stay close to the new mother and the baby dolphin. This auntie dolphin is often the only other dolphin a mother allows near her calf.

Physical Structure

Dolphin calves are approximately 106 to 132 cm long and weigh about 20 kg. In the first few days after birth, the dorsal fin and tail flukes are flaccid and pliable, but gradually become stiffer. Calves are darker than adults and show several vertical, light colored lines on their sides, a result of fetal folding. These lines disappear within six months.

Nursing

Dolphin calves nurse under water, close to the surface. The calf suckles from nipples concealed in abdominal mammary slits. A calf nurses as often as four times per hour for the first week. Milk is composed of 33% fat, 6.8% protein, and 58.3% water, with traces of lactose.

The baby dolphin swims close to its mother and is carried in the mother's slip stream, the hydrodynamic wake that develops as the mother swims. This helps the baby to swim and enables the mother and calf to stay up with the group. They will start to eat fish at approximately 6 months of age, but will still continue to nurse. Calves stay with mom for up to 6 years.