Dolphin Quiz
Questions: 16 · 10 minutes
1. In dark, murky water, a dolphin detects a fish that it cannot see clearly. Which ability is most directly helping it locate the fish?
Interpreting echoes from its clicks
Using its blowhole to sample the fish's scent
Sensing color changes through its dorsal fin
Following air bubbles released by all fish
2. A dolphin calf stays close to its mother and feeds from her body. What is the calf consuming?
Pre-chewed fish stored near the mother's mouth
Milk produced by the mother's mammary glands
Plankton gathered along the mother's skin
Nutrients filtered directly from seawater
3. What is a signature whistle in dolphin communication?
An echo that forms when clicks strike the ocean floor
A sound used exclusively to stun prey
A warning call produced only by newborn calves
A distinctive whistle associated with an individual dolphin
4. Scientists find that a persistent pollutant becomes more concentrated at each level of a marine food web. Why might fish-eating dolphins accumulate relatively high levels?
Their echolocation converts ordinary chemicals into pollutants.
Their blowholes absorb every pollutant directly from the air.
As predators, they consume contaminated prey over time, allowing pollutants to build up.
Their body temperature creates pollutants from seawater.
5. You find a live dolphin stranded on a beach. What is the most appropriate first response?
Contact a local marine-mammal rescue authority and follow its instructions while keeping a respectful distance.
Pour water into its blowhole to help it breathe.
Pull it into deep water by its tail before it becomes tired.
Cover its entire body, including the blowhole, to block the sun.
6. Which feature commonly helps distinguish dolphins from porpoises?
Dolphins have gills, while porpoises have lungs.
Dolphins commonly have conical teeth, while porpoises have more spade-shaped teeth.
Dolphins lack flippers, while porpoises have them.
Dolphins live only in oceans, while porpoises live only in rivers.
7. You watch two marine animals swimming. One moves its tail mainly up and down, while the other moves its tail mainly side to side. Which movement is typical of a dolphin?
Side to side, because dolphin tails work like fish tails
Only backward, with the flippers supplying forward motion
In a circular motion, like a rotating propeller
Up and down, powered by vertical movements of the body
8. Dolphins live in salt water but generally do not rely on drinking seawater. Where do they obtain much of the water they need?
From rain caught in the blowhole
From freshwater springs found beneath every ocean
From their prey and from water produced during metabolism
By filtering salt out through their teeth before swallowing
9. How can a dolphin rest while still returning to the surface to breathe?
It stores enough oxygen to remain fully asleep for several days.
It breathes underwater through temporary gill-like folds.
It can rest one brain hemisphere at a time while the other remains more alert.
It floats unconscious until another dolphin wakes it.
10. How does dolphin echolocation work?
The dolphin detects electrical fields produced by every object.
The dolphin emits clicks and uses returning echoes to gather information.
The dolphin sends whistles that illuminate objects underwater.
The dolphin follows magnetic trails left behind by prey.
11. A dolphin can move through water efficiently with relatively little resistance. Which body feature contributes most directly to this?
A smooth, streamlined body shape
A wide, flat face that pushes water forward
A thick layer of external fur
Rigid flippers that do not change angle
12. Despite its common name, what kind of animal is an orca, or killer whale?
The largest member of the oceanic dolphin family
A porpoise closely related to river dolphins
A baleen whale that filters small prey
A large seal with whale-like markings
13. A pod surrounds a school of fish and takes turns swimming through it to feed. What does this best demonstrate?
Seasonal migration guided only by water temperature
Competition that prevents pod members from sharing food
A need to return to the surface before every capture
Cooperative hunting among social animals
14. A dolphin repeatedly rises to the surface during a long swim. What essential function is it performing there?
Cooling its gills with moving air
Swallowing seawater to stay hydrated
Breathing through its blowhole
Resetting its echolocation system in sunlight
15. Which characteristic identifies dolphins as mammals rather than fish?
They live primarily in water.
They breathe air with lungs.
They have streamlined bodies.
They catch and eat other animals.
16. A fishing net unintentionally traps dolphins that were pursuing nearby fish. Which conservation problem does this illustrate?
Habitat restoration
Natural prey migration
Coastal echolocation
Bycatch and entanglement