• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer
  • WordPress
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
Science Update

Science Update

Sharing Science | Satisfying Curiosity | Debunking BS

  • Spotlights
  • Reality Check
  • Why Is It?
  • Radio Archives
  • Sciup @ School
Home » Radio Archive » Daily Show » Speedy Dolphins

Speedy Dolphins

September 13, 2007
https://podcast.scienceupdate.com/070913_sciup_spee.mp3

Podcast: Play in new window

BOB HIRSHON (host):
Just how speedy are dolphins? I’m Bob Hirshon and this is Science Update.

Listener Calvin Hamilton of Gainesville, Florida wrote to ask whether it’s true that dolphins can swim as fast as 20 miles per hour. According to marine biologist Frank Fish of West Chester University, they can sometimes swim even faster than that.

FRANK FISH (West Chester University):
The highest speed that’s ever been recorded was for the killer whale, which is the largest of the dolphins, and its speed was about 34 miles per hour.

HIRSHON:
He says bottlenose dolphins and Dall’s porpoises are just as fast. He adds that high speeds create drag, and for many years scientists didn’t understand how dolphins could swim as fast as they do. Recent studies have shown that dolphins can produce enough thrust to resist the drag. If your head’s swimming with science questions, call us at 1-800-why-isit. I’m Bob Hirshon, for AAAS, the science society.

Category: Daily ShowTag: Animal Behavior, Biology, Marine Science
Previous Post:Obesity Virus
Next Post:Expectations Roundup

Sidebar

Radio Program Archives

Want to learn more about the brain? The environment? Here you can browse the topics that come up regularly on Science Update.

Search the Archives

Categories

  • Daily Show
  • Station Download
  • Weekly Show

Find By Tag

  • 2020
  • Acoustics & Sound
  • Aging
  • Animal Behavior
  • Anthropology
  • Archaeology
  • Astronomy & Space
  • Biology
  • Brain Science
  • Bugs
  • Chemistry
  • Children & Families
  • cicadas
  • Climate & Weather
  • Communications
  • Computer Science
  • Economics & Business
  • Education
  • Energy
  • Engineering & Technology
  • Environment & Conservation
  • Genetics & Evolution
  • Geology
  • Marine Science
  • Materials Science
  • Mathematics
  • Medicine & Health
  • Microbiology
  • Nanotechnology
  • Nutrition & Food Science
  • Paleontology & Dinosaurs
  • Physics
  • Plants & Agriculture
  • Political Science
  • Reality Check
  • Social & Behavioral Sciences
  • Sports & Fitness
  • spotlight
  • Spotlight Bugs
  • Terrorism & War
  • Why Is It? Questions
  • Wildlife
  • Year in Review

Find By Date

Science Update
  • About Science Update
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • YouTube

Recent Posts

Mayan Honeybee hives
House sparrow wearing top hat rides aboard a red fireworks rocket

Copyright © 2023 · Springtail Media LLC · All Rights Reserved · Powered by Pongos