Do dolphins ever get attacked by sharks? If so can they defend themselves?

Answer 1

What are the natural predators of dolphins?

Large sharks and killer whales are the only natural predators of dolphins. Tiger sharks, bull sharks, and great white sharks are the main species that attack dolphins. Humans have also posed a major threat to dolphins in recent years(in Japan the dolphin population was almost completely dessimated during the 1980's and 1990's).Predation risk may have been an important factor that led to the evolution of group living in dolphins. Furthermore, risk of shark predation appears to influence both habitat use and group sizes of dolphins in a variety of locations. In Sarasota Florida 31% of bottlenose dolphins bear bite scars while 36.6% of bottlenose dolphins in Moreton Bay Australia bear bite scars. These are very significant numbers, and could have easily spawned a group defense system among dolphin populations. Interestingly enough, Heithaus and Lawrence found that coastal dolphins exhibited more bite scars than pelagic dolphins. This seems to contradict theories that coastal dolphins remain safer from predators because of the shallow water. Also, few age and sex differences were noted in scarring rates. This implies that all dolphins are equally vulnerable to attack. Some scientists believe that shark attacks on dolphins are simply acts of aggressive behavior because dolphins and sharks utilize the same food sources. This has not been proven however, and more conclusive research needs to be carried out (Heithaus and Dill, 2002).

How do dolphins defend themselves against predators?

Dolphin calves are the most vulnerable to predators. Dolphin pods serve as a means of predatory defense because there are more eyes to look out for predators. Keen eyesight, speed, and agility make predator detection and escape easier for dolphins. Although the dolphins most common response to predators is flight, the bottlenose dolphin will sometimes exhibit aggressive defensive behavior against sharks. They do this by battering the soft underbelly of the shark with their snouts. This can result in killing the shark. Bottlenose dolphins also use whistles and clicks to warn other dolphins of predator presence.

Answer 2

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RE:
Do dolphins ever get attacked by sharks? If so can they defend themselves?

Answer 3

They are actually known to defend people who are caught in shark attacks. Dolphins can kill sharks, and will or out swim the shark. I'm going to doubt they get attacked by sharks, but it's possible.

Answer 4

Do Dolphins Kill Sharks

Answer 5

How Do Dolphins Protect Themselves

Answer 6

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They have received the following Nobel Prizes: Literature: 1988 - Najib Mahfooz Peace: 1978 - Mohamed Anwar El-Sadat 1990 - Elias James Corey 1994 - Yaser Arafat: 1999 - Ahmed Zewai Economics: (zero) Physics: (zero) Medicine: 1960 - Peter Brian Medawar 1998 - Ferid Mourad TOTAL: 7 -- SEVEN The Global Jewish population is approximately 14,000,000 Only FOURTEEN MILLION or about 0.02% of the world's population. They have received the following Nobel Prizes: Literature: 1910 - Paul Heyse 1927 - Henri Bergson 1958 - Boris Pasternak 1966 - Shmuel Yosef Agnon 1966 - Nelly Sachs 1976 - Saul Bellow 1978 - Isaac Bashevis Singer 1981 - Elias Canetti 1987 - Joseph Brodsky 1991 - Nadine Gordimer World Peace: 1911 - Alfred Fried 1911 - Tobias Michael Carel Asser 1968 - Rene Cassin 1973 - Henry Kissinger 1978 - Menachem Begin 1986 - Elie Wiesel 1994 - Shimon Peres 1994 - Yitzhak Rabin Physics: 1905 - Adolph Von Baeyer 1906 - Henri Moissan 1907 - Albert Abraham Michelson 1908 - Gabriel Lippmann 1910 - Otto Wallach 1915 - Richard Willstaetter 1918 - Fritz Haber 1921 - Albert Einstein 1922 - Niels Bohr 1925 - James Franck 1925 - Gustav Hertz 1943 - Gustav Stern 1943 - George Charles de Hevesy 1944 - Isidor Issac Rabi 1952 - Felix Bloch 1954 - Max Born 1958 - Igor Tamm 1959 - Emilio Segre 1960 - Donald A. 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Simon 1980 - Lawrence Robert Klein 1985 - Franco Modigliani 1987 - Robert M. Solow 1990 - Harry Markowitz 1990 - Merton Miller 1992 - Gary Becker 1993 - Robert Fogel Medicine: 1908 - Elie Metchnikoff 1908 - Paul Erlich 1914 - Robert Barany 1922 - Otto Meyerhof 1930 - Karl Landsteiner 1931 - Otto Warburg 1936 - Otto Loewi 1944 - Joseph Erlanger 1944 - Herb ert Spencer Gasser 1945 - Ernst Boris Chain 1946 - Hermann Joseph Muller 1950 - Tadeus Reichstein 1952 - Selman Abraham Waksman 1953 - Hans Krebs 1953 - Fritz Albert Lipmann 1958 - Joshua Lederberg 1959 - Arthur Kornberg 1964 - Konrad Bloch 1965 - Francois Jacob 1965 - Andre Lwoff 1967 - George Wald 1968 - Marshall W. Nirenberg 1969 - Salvador Luria 1970 - Julius Axelrod 1970 - Sir Bernard Katz 1972 - Gerald Maurice Edelman 1975 - Howard Martin Temin 1976 - Baruch S. Blumberg 1977 - Roselyn Sussman Yalow 1978 - Daniel Nathans 1980 - Baruj Benacerraf 1984 - Cesar Milstein 1985 - Michael Stuart Brown 1985 - Joseph L. 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Answer 7

Yes, they do, unfortunately. But since dolphins usually travel in packs, a pack of dolphins can take on a shark.

Answer 8

Yes. they do, all kinds of dolphins, not just the bottlenose we are most familiar with. However dolphins travel in "pods" or a large group, so it is unusual for a shark to succeed in eating a dolphin, unless it is ill, or a calf.

Answer 9

Sometimes the dolphins can kick the shark's asss. But Im sure that sharks do attack dolphins every now and then.

Answer 10

It is a rare occurance, but it does happen sometimes. When it does, dolphins try to surround the shark and take turns butting it with their snouts in the hopes that it will go away.

Answer 11

they can definitely defend themselves, if the timing is right . they rotate around the sharks body getting the shark dizzy to the point the shark is on its back torso facing up which will paralyze the shark. giving the dolphin enough time to escape.

its possible if you give it some thought.