Neptue Caves & Dolphin Wacthing

Hey,

On our trip to Sardinia we went to the Neptune caves. We travel to the Neptune Grotto via boat which meant we got to see Alghero's lighthouse that is the tallest in Europe. By going on boat we also escaped walking the 654 steps which would have been over 1000 steps as there were steps inside the grotto as well as walking 654 steps twice.

The Neptune Grotto has been open since 1970.

On the final day of our holiday, in Sardinia, we went dolphin watching. However, we were unlucky as we didn't get to see any dolphins. We did nonetheless get to go snorkelling which was fun, although you did have to get used to using the flippers.

On this excursion, we did get to learn loads about dolphins. Did you know that the lifespan of a dolphin is between 40 to 50 years, but the oldest known dolphin is 67 years old. I also learned that dolphins In captivity only live about 20 years, these are the dolphins who are taught tricks for people to watch. Bottlenose dolphins like to swim by the coast so we looked from Alghero to the Corsica area. In mating season, which is from May to June, males swim and join a group of females for the whole of mating season before leaving.

When a dolphin is pregnant it lasts for 12 months and when they are born the tail is the first out. The mother would then help the calf to the surface to take their 1st breath. I found this cute! Also during pregnancy, the mother will feel the foetus swimming around in the womb at 9 weeks. The calves stay with their mothers until they are 4 years old, when they then join a junior group (same age). They stay with this group until they have fully matured, for females this is between the ages of 6 to 8, whereas for males it is between 10 to 13 years old. It is found that often females, once matured, return home to their mothers and that group of females for their adult life.

My final dolphin fact is that when a dolphin rests it closes one eye and turns the opposite half of its brain off. When it's right eye is closed, it's left half of its brain is turned off or the other way around. This allows for the dolphin to still be aware of their environment around them.

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I hope you enjoyed my Sardinia posts

Thanks for reading

Amy x