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Dolphins Senses

Dolphinaris provides you with a complete study about dolphin’s senses for you to learn more about our cute aquatic friends. Read on and awe with the surprising dolphin senses can be. Dolphinaris complete Encyclopedia will get you closer to these fascinating mammals.

Hearing

Bottlenose dolphins hear tones within the frequency range of 1 to 150 kHz (the average hearing range for humans is about 0.02 to 17 kHz). Most sound reception, or hearing, probably takes place through the lower jaw. Studies show that the lower jaw must effectively receives sounds with frequencies above 20 kHz. A dolphin may also receive sound through soft tissue and bone surrounding the ear. Each opening leads to a reduced ear canal and an eardrum.

Eyesight

The bottlenose dolphin has a visual range of 180º forwards, backwards and to the side, but it can not see up. This is often why we see dolphins chasing fish belly side up. Bottlenose dolphins can move each eye independently. Dolphins have acute vision both in and out of the water. A dolphin's retina contains both rod cells and cone cells, indicating that they may have the ability to see in both dim and bright light. The presence of cone cells suggests that dolphins may be able to see color, although studies on bottlenose dolphins haven't documented color vision.

Tactile

A dolphin is able to sense the water's movement over its body to use to its own advantage, but how exactly it does this is still unknown. Aside from the dolphin's external sensitivity to water flow, all cetaceans use the sense of touch in sexual and social situations. They stroke or pat one another with pectoral fins or flukes, rub bodies together, and press their genitals against a neighbor, who doesn't always have to be of the opposite sex.

Taste

Dolphins have some ability to taste and are able to detect the four basic stimuli (sweet, sour, bitter and salt). This can be used for locating other dolphins, finding food, orientation, reproduction, and stress sensitivity. A female dolphin that is ready to breed releases some potent chemical stimuli that attract males, also large school of fish can leave a chemical trace that lingers for hours. In terms of orientation, many of the ocean's currents have distinct chemical traces that dolphins may use to navigate.

Smell

Olfactory lobes of the brain and olfactory nerves are absent in all toothed whales, indicating that they have a limited sense of smell.