Life Of Dolphin Mating And Giving Birth

The age of maturity for dolphins varies significantly based on many factors. The location where they live, the temperature of the water, food sources, and even the species all play a factor. For females, that age can range from 5 to 13. For males it is often much later with the range being from 9 to 14 years of age.

What is very interesting is that dolphins are known to take part in mating activities for purposes other than reproduction. They may do so out of emotional bonding as humans do. When there is a lack of food or environmental stressors, they may not take part in mating at all. This is part of their instinctive means of survival. They focus their attention on taking care of their basic needs. When food is plentiful and there are few environmental stressors they are more likely to take part in mating.

Males can be very aggressive towards each other when it comes to the right to mate.They make sounds to warn each other off and they may collide their bodies against each other. The use of the fluke is very common when it comes to males trying to show their strength. There is usually not any real damage from these battles, but they can continue until the males are exhausted and until one of them goes away in defeat.

The female will mate with the one that is the strongest and most dominant. The males can be very aggressive too with females that aren’t very responsive to the advances. The male can quickly become impatient with a female that doesn’t want to mate with him. Sometimes, dolphins will show signs of sexual activity towards humans or other forms of aquatic life they come into contact with.