Behavior

Dolphins come in both social and solitary varieties, but when they travel as a group, they are referred to as a pod or school. Schools of dolphins vary in number immensely depending on their locations. Dolphins in rivers may be part of small groups or solo while dolphins in oceans usually comprise a pod of hundreds or thousands of members.

Many behaviors that dolphins perform have certain names. When they raise their flukes (tails) above the surface of the water, they are lobtailing in order to show aggression, especially for the bottlenose dolphins. Raising their head out of the water vertically for a brief moment is often referred to as spyhopping. In addition, dolphins may bowride when they swim in the middle of the wave that forms in front of a moving ship in the water. Such an activity does not necessarily have any basis in survival, but merely is an act of enjoyment.

Dolphins are often thought of as serene and friendly creatures, but they do in fact have their darker side. Like many mammals, the males exhibit a great deal of aggression in order to move up within the social hierarchy of their group. It is not unusual to find scars on a dolphin, especially a male.