Dolphins are polygamous mammals, which like bonobos and humans enjoy having sex outside of breeding.
The mating is done vertically, belly to belly, lasts about thirty seconds and looks like a dance. Dolphins like other mammals like humans or Bonobos have same sex relationships as well.

Birth and Nursing of Dolphins

The baby dolphin weighs between 30 and 40 kg at birth and measures around 1 meter (4 feet). The mother cuts the umbilical cord by turning abruptly after expulsion. It then pushes the baby to the surface, because having empty lungs, it sinks naturally.

The baby will be “independent” concerning breathing within 30 minutes of birth. The baby dolphins begin food diversification around 5 months and breastfeeding lasts 2 years.

Since dolphins do not have lips to suckle their mothers, breastfeeding is done differently. For obvious hydrodynamic reasons, the female dolphin has the mammary glands inside her body. on the same level as her reproductive organs. (Don’t try to imagine it otherwise, it will be scary.) 

It is hardly noticeable to the eye. The baby dolphins comes to nudge his mother a few times to indicate her need to drink milk, and his mother will expel the milk that the baby dolphins will swallow by rolling up his tongue like a sort of gutter or straw.

Lactation will last around 2 years and the young dolphin will be adult and suitable for reproduction in turn at 6 years for females and 11 years for the males.

Dolphins swim around 40 miles by day, they need space. In nature they live around 40 /50 years. In captivity they live only 20 years.

Firstly, dolphins travel up to 70 km every day. They have a huge need for space, which even the most spacious water parks cannot provide. It is also important to understand that park dolphins were not born in captivity but were too often torn from their families.

Dolphins are “pack” mammals, they have a language and each individual communicates with others through their own sound.

They begin what could be compared to a sentence with a sound unique to each dolphin which represents their names sometimes accompanied by the “name” of their mother.

Many dolphins (especially females) live their entire lives with their families. Tearing them away from their groups to make them throw balls and jump in hoops is just cruel.

It is also important to understand what causes them to have a nervous breakdown. their sonar is very advanced, they use it to locate and navigate. the powerful signal emitted by the dolphin bounces on what it encounters (boat, fish, shore).

In captivity, unfortunately, their sonar, which is far too powerful for such small spaces, bounces off the surfaces of their aquarium and reverberates endlessly (or almost).

This tends to make them mad or depressed and explains the accidents with tourists during their “scholarly tours”. depression ends up killing them before their time. In captivity, a dolphin rarely lives more than 20 years when in the wild their life expectancy is 40 to 50 years.

So, if you wish to swim with dolphins please don’t do it in captivity. Watch them in freedom if you are not lucky enough to see some, you can still feel happy to dont feed animal cruelty and give bonus points to your karma.