A dolphin is an aquatic mammal within the infraorder Cetacea in the order of toothed whales. There are 40 extant species of dolphin in various shapes and sizes from the 1.7 metre-long Maui's dolphin to the largest representative, the 9.5 metre-long orca.
Various species of dolphins exhibit sexual dimorphism such as the males are larger than females and some such as the orcas have extra features, as males have longer and straighter dorsal fins than the females. They have streamlined bodies and two limbs that are modified into flippers. Though not quite as flexible as seals, some dolphins can briefly travel at speeds of 29 kilometres per hour (18 mph) or leap about 9 metres (30 ft). Dolphins use their conical teeth to capture fast-moving prey whether alone or in a group. Dolphins feed largely on fish and squid, but a few, such as the orca, feed on large mammals such as seals.
Dolphins are known to teach, learn, cooperate, scheme and grieve. the neocortex of many species is home to elongated spindle neurons that, prior to 2007, were known only in hominids. In humans, these cells are involved in social conduct, emotions, judgment, and theory of mind. Cetacean spindle neurons are found in areas of the brain that are analogous to where they are found in humans, suggesting that they perform a similar function.
Dolphins are sometimes hunted in places such Japan, in an activity known as dolphin drive hunting. Besides drive hunting, they also face threats from bycatch, habitat loss, and marine pollution. Dolphins have been depicted in various cultures worldwide and they are also sometimes kept in captivity and trained to perform tricks.
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- Keeping dolphins in captivity has long been a source of great controversy, and although animal husbandry conditions have improved greatly since the 1800s, many animal rights activists still view dolphinariums as cruelty to animals.
- The species featured in the Tokuma Marine Park in Monster Musume in Chapter 19 is most likely the bottlenose dolphin due to their appearance and they're very popular with aquariums because of their intelligence which makes them impressive performers.
- The Japanese word for "Dolphin" is iruka (イルカ), while the Japanese word for "Bottlenose Dolphin" is handou-iruka (半道海豚). Katakanized (i.e. the process of writing a non-Japanese word written with a Japanese alphabet) would be the word for dolphin 'dorufin'.
- As mentioned in Chapter 19, visitors of the Tokuma Marine Park are allowed to pet the dolphins after the dolphin show. In real life, however, this would be expressly forbidden in most dolphinariums, since there is a risk that humans could transmit diseases to the dolphins by touching them. Above all, baby dolphins are particularly endangered because, due to their weakly developed immune system, they can often contract fatal diseases.
- In Episode 9, Tionishia received a stuffed dolphin from the Tokuma Marine Park staff as a replacement for the real dolphin, which she wanted to take home at first, which of course was not allowed. This scene was originally added specifically for the anime and was not included in Chapter 19, on which the episode is based. However, the stuffed dolphin appears in the Technicolor Side Story of Volume 10 among Tio's stuffed animals in her room, so that this additional anime scene was subsequently confirmed as canon for the manga series.
- In many stories and myths, dolphins are portrayed as friendly and helpful and sometimes considered opponents of "evil" sharks, but this cliché also caused many people to underestimate the potential danger that dolphins themselves can pose. Although dolphins are rarely aggressive, they can also attack humans in stressful situations and these attacks can also be fatal. This risk is exacerbated by the fact that many people misinterpret dolphin behaviour as "friendly" when they are actually expressing disturbance or aggression.
- The cliché of the peaceful dolphin is also shown in Chapter 19, where Mero swims in the dolphins' tank without the animals showing any signs of fear or aggression towards her. As a Mermaid, Mero probably knows how to behave correctly when dealing with dolphins, whereby the dolphins may also have mistaken Mero for a conspecific, due to her fish tail.
- Male dolphins are also known to occasionally separate a female from the rest of her school in groups and then try to mate with her by force, a behavior that, humanized, could be considered as a "rape". In addition, a male dolphin occasionally kills young of its own species so that the mother can become pregnant again and thus give the male the opportunity to mate with her himself.
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