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Discover the Aquatic World: Top 7 Fun Facts About Striped Dolphins You Never Knew!

illustration of striped-dolphins
Dive into the wonderful world of striped dolphins and discover some fin-tastic fun facts that will surely make a splash!

1. Olympic Acrobats of the Sea

If striped dolphins were Olympic athletes, they'd definitely bring home the gold for high-diving and synchronized swimming: These acrobatic aquanauts love to show off their impressive "roto-tailing" moves, leaping up to 20 feet above the water's surface while spinning their tails with incredible grace and speed.
Source => fisheries.noaa.gov

2. Social Butterflies with Fins

If you thought dolphin shows at the local aquarium were quite the spectacle, wait until you hear about these gravity-defying, socially-butterfly-esque creatures who put Olympic gymnasts to shame: Striped dolphins are renowned for their jaw-dropping jumps and aerial acrobatics, including a signature move called roto-tailing, all while maintaining a strong social life within their meticulously organized, age-driven clique that thrive in the deep end of the oceanic waters where they feast on a smorgasbord of fish and cephalopods.
Source => fisheries.noaa.gov

3. Sea Circus Performers

Picture a dolphin as a circus performer, leaping through hoops, executing somersaults, and leaving the audience in awe with its acrobatic prowess. But wait! Instead of joining the circus, these bold ballerinas of the sea are just hitting their stride in the ocean: Striped dolphins have the innate ability to leap up to 23 feet above the water surface, performing tail spins, somersaults, and backward flips with finesse, as well as roto-tailing, where they arc high in the air while rapidly spinning their powerful tails for added thrust and speed.
Source => us.whales.org

4. Breakdancing Dolphin Style

When these dolphins want to take "breakdancing" to a whole new level, they don't just do it on land but take it to the skies: Striped dolphins have a fascinating behavior called roto-tailing, where they catapult into the air and wildly spin their tails, often seen during social interactions, courtship, and even meal-hunting escapades.
Source => fisheries.noaa.gov

Wave-riding Party Animals

5. Wave-riding Party Animals

Doing the wave like an over-enthusiastic audience member on marine steroids, striped dolphins love to have a flipper of a good time: Engaging in impressive acrobatics, breaching, and even roto-tailing where they spin their tails with exuberance, these lively dolphins leap up to twenty feet in the air but prefer to pass on the deep-sea diving scene, never diving more than 2,300 feet below the surface.
Source => fisheries.noaa.gov

6. Aquatic Speed Demons

Born to break speed limits and fathom the depths like modern-day undersea Olympians, striped dolphins might give Aquaman a run for his money: These aquatic speedsters can achieve blitzing speeds of up to 37 mph (60 km/h) and masterfully dive to explore depths of 2,300 feet (700 meters) in search of a tasty meal.
Source => birdwatchinghq.com

7. Dolphin Maestros

Step aside, Mozart and Beethoven, there’s a new maestro in town – and they come with flippers and fins: Striped dolphins boast an impressively intricate collection of clicks, burst pulses, and whistles for communicating within their social circles, demonstrating that their vocal prowess can be used to differentiate behavioral activities, but without any threat to outshine humanity's linguistic capabilities.
Source => frontiersin.org

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