The Solved Mystery behind Dolphins’ Fast Swimming

Since 1930’s, scientists were puzzled on why do dolphins swim very fast. A researcher named Sir James Gray conducted a study on how dolphins swim in 1936. By using some theory on Physics, he concluded that the reason why dolphins can swim so fast was the turbulent flow of the water. However, his assumption did not agree with the equations he made to prove his conclusion. He then concluded that dolphins did something to make the turbulent flow become smooth, a conclusion which has not been proved for decades.  

One of the problems encountered by Scientist in solving the mystery is their inability to measure the forces that dolphins produce as they swim. The scientists could actually illuminate beads to measure these beads but this method would injure the dolphins. A professor from University of Nebraska found a solution for this problem, the use of a bubble curtain. The bubble curtain is a tool that produces bubbles in a special arrangement in water. It can be used to control movements of fish or dolphins. Using this bubble curtain, they discover the reason why the dolphins swim so fast.

The reason behind their fast swimming was their tails or flukes. These tails help them create thrusts that make them swim at fast rates. The high flexibility of these tails also helps in making their swimming very efficient. The faster the dolphin swims, the higher its swimming efficiency becomes. With this discovery, Gray’s conclusion on dolphin’s swimming could be rejected.

Blogpost by: Jocel Tonido

References:

Anon., 2001. Fraser River Pile and Dredge. [Online] Available at: http://www.frpd.ca/BubbleCurtainArticle.pdf [Accessed 19 January 2014].

Anon., n.d. University of Nebraska-Lincoln. [Online]  Available at: http://www.unl.edu/ucomm/chancllr/topadmin/twei.shtml [Accessed 19 January 2014].

Lee, J. J., 2014. National Geographic Daily News. [Online]  Available at: news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/01/140115-bottlenose-dolphins-swimming-paradox-ocean-animals-science/?rptregcta=reg_free_np&rptregcampaign=20131016_rw_membership_n1p_intl_dr_w#
[Accessed 19 January 2014].