Calves

Fun Fact: Commerson's dolphin calves are born black.
The white highlights appear when they get older!

Mother dolphins and their babies have a very strong bond.
(However, males and females do not stay together after they mate.)

Just after birth, the mother will push the calf to the surface to teach it where to breath!

Mother dolphins instinctually push their calf to the surface

Around Florida, baby dolphins are usually born between February and May.
The mother feeds milk to her baby for up to 1 1/2 years,
but the baby starts to eat fish when he’s about six months old.

The mother won’t have another baby for 2-3 years.
She spends this time teaching the first baby to survive.
Even after she has a new baby, the older brother or sister will stay nearby until it is 4 or 5 years old.

Female dolphins are grown up at 5-12 years old,
but the males don’t grow up until they are 9-13 years old.

The average life span for a dolphin is 20 years.
Many dolphins in the wild live to be 25-years-old.

Adult Bottlenose dolphin can weigh 400-650 pounds.