Parts of a Dolphin

Image from Wild Dolphins and Whales

The parts of a dolphin's body are...

• The blowhole
• The melon
• The beak
• The ears and eyes
• The dorsal fin and the lateral fins
• The anus
• The tailflukes
• The male/female genital slit

How the Different Body Parts Help the Dolphin

Each part of a dolphin helps it in a different way. Here they are:

1. The Blowhole

The blowhole is conveniently located on the top of a dolphin’s head so that it can take a breath while staying in the water. Blowholes are covered by a strong valve that opens very quickly to allow a fast exhale and inhale. There is a system of air sacs that help close the blowhole underneath the blowhole. The air sacs also help in sound production.

2.The Melon and Echolocation

Dolphins make high-pitched clicks and squeaks, used to help them hunt for food. The click or squeak bounces off an object and return to the dolphin as an echo. The melon, a fatty section in a dolphin’s forehead, helps it by allowing the dolphin to be able to focus the clicks into “beams?. By doing this, the dolphin can tell how far the object is by determining how long it takes the echo to come back.

3. The Beak

Dolphins’ beaks don’t really help the dolphin, except for holding the teeth that dolphins need to kill and eat fish and to jam into the side of a shark to scare it away.

4. The Ears and Eyes

The eyes of a dolphin are very unique. The eyes’ refraction power is very strong, making it so that the dolphin can see quite far. The ears of a dolphin are very tiny, since they aren’t really needed. A dolphin’s hearing is very limited. Dolphins, though, don’t have much of a need for hearing because they can “sense” the sonar waves that they send out.

5. The Dorsal Fin and the Lateral Fins

The dorsal fin is the triangular shaped fin on a dolphin’s back. This part of a dolphin aids it by stabilizing the dolphin. The lateral fins, or flippers, are mainly used for steering when swimming and balancing the dolphin when staying in one spot.

6.The Anus

The anus of a dolphin helps by removing wastes from the body of a dolphin.

7.The Tail Flukes

The tail flukes of a dolphin help push the dolphin forward by moving up and down against the water to push the dolphin forward.

8.The Male/Female Genital Slit

The genital slit in a female is used to give birth to babies. Next to the genital slit are two mammary slits, which contain the nipples with milk for the babies. As for males, the genital slit hides the penis of the dolphin. Mammary slits are sometimes also found in male dolphins.