dolphin penis

**WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT**

that's right.  i said dolphin penis.

dolphins are very social and live in fission-fusion societies like humans.  this means that they hang out with some dolphins more regularly (like we do with close friends and family) but also have other friends they are seen with less regularly (like our acquaintances).  and those group compositions change throughout the day (just like we move throughout our day with different groups of people).

females and babies hang out with other females and babies, usually those related to them or close friends.  males, on the other hand, leave their families and form alliances with other males who they usually are not related to.  they will stay with this alliance their whole life and spend much of that time searching for and consorting with females.

our research team focuses on females (there is another team that focuses on males), but when collecting data we sometimes come up on groups of males.  the dolphin below was in a group of males that were socializing.  when they socialize they kind of wrestle or play, they practice having sex, or just mount each other to show dominance.  it's funny to watch these behaviors because it's like a ball of dolphins moving around and you can't tell who is who but you can see a pec fin, or a tail, or a belly, or an eye and beak.... or a penis.

with so much movement in the water, taking a decent photo of a dolphin penis is no easy task.  i was even challenged to win an ice cream if i could get a good shot.  so without further ado, behold my ice cream winning photo.  i am so proud!

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a couple of interesting facts about the dolphin penis:

1. dolphins have genital slits so all genitalia is kept on the inside when not in use.

2. dolphins have prehensile penises.  this means they have control over them and can move them anywhere they would like to.  like a finger.

not gonna lie, after seeing this close up zoomed in picture i kind of feel bad for the females.  very interesting, but also pretty gross looking!