Today is...

[IceWizard]

Thursday 14 April 2016

National Dolphin Day



So, today is National Dolphin Day. Of course dolphins seem happy every day – but here are ten special things you might not know about the ocean’s biggest grinners:

Killer whales are dolphins

Yes, the big mean orcas are just big misunderstood dolphins. They are top dog in every ocean ecosystem, despite being dressed in silly panda suits.

Dolphins are born tail first

Being a mammal and giving birth at sea is no mean feat, and every baby dolphin comes into the world in reverse. If you’re lucky enough to see a very young dolphin you might also notice that they look ‘creased’ from where they were folded up inside their mothers. A healthy diet of fatty dolphin milk soon irons out those creases though.

Dolphins have built in sonar

Dolphins navigate and find their food using echolocation. This bounces noise off objects and their surroundings to ‘see’ in surround sound. Bats also use echolocation in this way, but sadly dolphins have never been immortalised as a caped comic crusader.

Dolphins rescued Dick Van Dyke!

No, this is not a deleted scene from Mary Poppins! In 2010 cinema legend Dick Van Dyke claimed that his life was saved by ‘porpoises’. Though he probably meant dolphins. Or he may have been talking supercalifragilisticexpialinonsense.

Scottish dolphins are the best

Okay, maybe not the best, but Scottish bottlenose dolphins are the biggest in the world. Probably because Scottish seas are a bit chilly as every child who has been to St Andrews beach in ‘summer’ knows to their cost, and being bigger means you lose less heat. Scottish dolphins are also pretty easy to see from shore, or on a boat trip, and support a thriving ecotourism industry in the Moray Firth.

Some dolphins live in the trees

Not all dolphins live in the sea, with a handful of species preferring freshwater and living in tropical rivers. That means that in the flooded waters of the amazon, river dolphins swim amongst the trees.

Dolphins have central heating and cooling systems

Because they are covered in a blubbery coating to stay warm, dolphins have to take special measures to regulate their temperature. They use clever circulation to cool down blood in their fins and send it where staying cool matters most.

Dolphins call each other names

No, not mean names like ‘Fishbreath’ or ‘Beaky’! Scientists have discovered that complex dolphin communication includes referring to each other by a given ‘name’

Not all dolphins look the same

There are about 40 species of dolphins: some have no beak, some have no fin on their back, some are black and white, some are pink, some have go-faster stripes, and some are covered in scars. The one thing they do have in common is conical shaped teeth that are perfect for catching fish and squid on the move.

Source; Greenpeace

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Look Up at the Sky Day



Origin of this Holiday

Our research did not find the creator, or the origin of this day. We did however find that this holiday has been celebrated for years. There is plenty of documentation to support that National look up at the Sky Day" does indeed exist.

This holiday is referred to as a "National" day. However, we did not find any congressional records or presidential proclamations for this day.

Even though we didn't, this is still a holiday that is publicized to celebrate. So have fun with it and celebrate it! Look up into the sky and see what you can see.