Articles tagged as Dolphins | Smithsonian Magazine

The fossilized crania of three long-snouted cetaceans.

The Mystery of Ancient Dolphins’ Super-Long Snouts

A new study suggests the extinct cetaceans used their snouts to hit and stun prey, much as swordfish do

November 8, 2018

This striped dolphin, photographed in the Gulf of Corinth, may be grieving a relative. A new study examines the evidence.

Study Suggests Dolphins and Some Whales Grieve Their Dead

An analysis of 78 instances of cetaceans paying attention to their dead suggests grief may be part of being a highly social animal

June 20, 2018

When it comes to diving, humans can't hope to keep up with flippered mammals. But an anatomist thinks she may have identified a crucial structure in dolphins that could help humans avoid the bends.

New Research

Dolphins Have a Mysterious Network of Veins That Could Be Key to Preventing the Bends

It might be possible to make an external device that protects divers from the deadly condition

May 25, 2018

English dolphins gliding through their home turf

Cool Finds

England Has Its Own Pod of Dolphins

Researchers discover that the group of 28 animals are actually local residents, not just visitors

December 22, 2017

New Research

Scientists Record the Thunderous Call of the Loudest Known Fish

The Gulf corvina’s collective mating call is so powerful that it can damage the hearing of sea lions and dolphins

December 22, 2017

"Perhaps you'd be interested if I had a sponge?"

New Research

Male Humpback Dolphins Woo Mates By Presenting Sponges as Gifts

They also use “wingmen” and occasionally sport the sponges as hats—but researchers aren’t sure just how much game they really have

November 22, 2017

Floating sea pen designed to hold captured vaquitas

Conservationists are attemping a risky last-ditch plan to move the remaining creatures to a sanctuary in the Gulf of California

November 7, 2017

One of the mine-hunting dolphins being retrained to find vaquita porpoises

Mine-hunting dolphins will help researchers transfer the remaining creatures into marine sanctuaries

July 5, 2017

U.K. Killer Whale Contained Staggering Levels of Toxic Chemical

Lulu had one of the highest concentrations of PCBs ever recorded in a marine mammal

May 4, 2017

Orcas Are Killed in Front of Tourists, Now Caribbean Nation Wrangles With Whaling Laws

The prime minister of St. Vincent will introduce legislation to outlaw orca hunting

April 11, 2017

Smithsonian researchers found that otters that use tools aren't closely related.

New Research

Unlike Dolphins, Sea Otters That Use Tools Are Not Closely Related

Rock-bashing in otters is a very old behavior

March 30, 2017

This diminutive mammal could soon go extinct.

As “the panda of the sea” hurtles toward extinction, scientists stage a last-ditch effort to save the species

February 8, 2017

Nearly 100 false killer whales are currently stranded in the Everglades in the worst Florida stranding of its kind.

So far, at least 82 false killer whales have died

January 17, 2017

The fossil Arktocara yakataga (resting on an 1875 ethnographic map of Alaska) belonged to a dolphin that swam in subarctic marine waters around 25 million years ago.

Smithsonian Researchers Uncover Extinct, Ancient River Dolphin Fossil Hiding in Their Own Collections

Sometimes, paleontologists don’t have to go into the field to discover a tantalizing new species

August 16, 2016

Artist's rendering of the first U.S. dolphin sanctuary

Under mounting public pressure, the aquarium’s eight bottle-nosed dolphins will soon move to a seaside retreat in the tropics

June 15, 2016

Does Snot Help Dolphins Echolocate?

The cetaceans can perform acoustic gymnastics, but how they produce ultrasonic noises has long eluded scientists

May 26, 2016

Groggy after a night in a strange place? A night watchman in your brain may be to blame.

You Can’t Sleep While Traveling Because Your Brain Acts Like a Dolphin’s

On the first night in a new place, half your brain stays awake to watch out for danger

April 21, 2016

New Research

This Is How Dolphins ‘See’ Humans With Echolocation

A news study capture images of what dolphins ‘see’ underwater

December 8, 2015

Age of Humans

Electric Fishing Puts a Rare Dolphin-Human Partnership at Risk

Illegal fishing practices are threatening traditional cooperation between humans and river dolphins in Burma

September 22, 2015

Wild pigs go for a dip off Big Major Cay in the Exhumas, Bahamas.

Not Just Dolphins: Where to Swim With Pigs, Penguins and the Gentlest of Sharks

At these beaches, splash around with some more unusual creatures

August 10, 2015