                    Dolphin Anatomy and Sexual Behavior FAQ
                                   Version 2
                                   By Flypper

    Hello, my name is Flypper.  I've been a "zoo" for 15 years and I'm
    "zoo exclusive" which means, the only life partners I'm interested in
    are non-human.  I presently have relationships with Atlantic
    Bottelnosed Dolphins and equines, so I'm not monogamous.  I care for
    all animals but dolphins have always held a special place in my heart.
    I'm also a vegetarian.

    I'm writing this FAQ because I've noticed a lack of information, on
    the web, regarding human/dolphin relationships.  Please let me know of
    any other FAQ's, essays, or stories you may know about.

    I'm basing these questions and answers on questions I've been asked,
    as well as observations I've made and questions I've asked myself
    while learning about my partners, while they also learn about me.  All
    of my experiences have been with Atlantic Bottelnosed Dolphins
    *Tursiops truncatus*, so my answers may skew toward them.  Feel free
    to e-mail me with any other questions, comments or constructive
    criticisms you may have.  I've received comments from 2 anonymous
    delphic zoos and I've made some revisions based on those.  I've also
    added a glossary of terms, it appears that not all zoos use the same
    terminology for the dolphin's behavior and anatomy that I do.  The
    glossary was added to avoid confusion.

    Glossary:
    A) Afterslit- This is another name for the dolphin's anus.  Their anus
    is just below the male's genital slit, or at the bottom of the
    female's genital slit.
    B) Genital Slit- When I refer to the genital slit, I'm referring to the
    exposed opening that you see on a dolphin's belly near the tail.
    It is not a reference to the actual urogenital or penile opening.
    C) "Pec Check"- This is a reference to a per-copulatory behavior,
    usually performed by a male dolphin just prior to an attempt at
    penetration.  Not to be confused with pec petting or rubbing.
    D) Pec Petting/Rubbing- This is a common social behavior, performed by
    dolphins.  They will swim along side a companion and actually pet or
    rub them with their pec flipper or tail fluke.  They may even insert
    these body parts into their partner's genital slit to pleasure them.
    E) Peduncle- This is the section of their body that starts just behind
    the dorsal fin and ends where it meets with their tail fluke.  The
    peduncle is very muscular, the genital slit is located on the
    underside of the peduncle.
    F) Pleasuring- A better term for masturbating.
    G) Sheath- I refer to the "pocket" that contains a dolphin's penis,
    when it's retracted, as the sheath.  If you have a better term, that I
    haven't already used please let me know.

    Q1:  How do you tell a male dolphin from a female?
    A1:  If you look at the ventral, or belly, side of a dolphin you will
    see a series of slits near the base of the peduncle, or tail (not to
    be confused with the "tail fluke").  A male dolphin has one long slit
    followed by a short slit, or afterslit.  The long slit contains the
    penile opening.  The penis is connected to the "extensor muscle".  The
    afterslit is the anus.  Females have one long slit with two smaller
    slits on either side.  The long slit contains the clitoris, vaginal
    opening, and anus.  The anus is in the lower end of the slit.  The two
    smaller slits are the mammary slits, these contain the teats.  When a
    calf nurses, the mother will squirt the milk from one of the two slits
    right into the calves mouth.

    Q2:  Where are the dolphins sex organs located in relation to the
    genital slit?
    A2:  In both cases the genitals are located in the middle of the slit.
    As I stated earlier, a dolphin's penis is connected to the extensor
    muscle.  I'm personally not sure what the job of the extensor muscle
    is when the penis is retracted and the 2 zoos that contacted me have
    differing opinions, so I'm printing both of their opinions and you can
    decide for yourselves.  One opinion is that the extensor muscle is not
    required to keep the penis retracted, while the other opinion is that
    it is used to keep it retracted.  In both cases they agree that the
    muscle is what gives them such wonderful control, it was even
    mentioned that a dolphins penis works similarly to a bovine (or bull)
    penis.  I've had no bovine experience, so I can't say if that's true
    or not.  The extensor muscle also helps in erection by bunching up
    behind the base of the penis, holding it out during mating.  The
    penile opening is in the center of the genital slit.  The clitoris and
    vaginal opening are also in the center of the genital slit.  The
    mammary slits are just above the vaginal opening.  They can be used as
    a visual target when pleasuring or mating with your partner.

    Q3:  Do dolphins know where our sex organs are right away or do they
    need to learn?
    A3:  Most of the dolphins I've had relations with, didn't understand
    the differences in our plumbing.  I take that back, one did but she
    was very young and hadn't developed her mating habits yet {no I didn't
    penetrate her, and yes she initiated it}.  But for the most part, an
    amorous dolphin will be fixated on your legs.  They stare at and nudge
    your knees in particular, unless the dolphin has "been" with a person
    before. I believe the reason they stare at your knees is:  If you were
    built like a dolphin, your genitals would be around your knees.  Over
    time they will learn the proper locations of your equipment.

    Q4:  Can a dolphin use its tongue for oral sex?
    A4:  If a man wants to risk fellatio with 88-100 cone shaped teeth,
    then maybe.  Their are no teeth (large ones any way) in the very front
    of a bottlenose dolphins mouth, but I doubt I'll ever try it.  They
    can spit water at you and rub various parts of their bodies on you to
    incite an erection.  As one of the zoos who contacted me said "They
    like to pleasure as much as they like to receive".  The majority of a
    dolphins tongue is attached to the mouth.  So it would be extremely
    difficult, if not impossible for a dolphin to perform cunnilingus on a
    woman. However, they can do about the same thing with their rostrum,
    pec flippers, or other appendages.

    Q5:  Do dolphins like to have oral sex performed on them?
    A5:  I've found that some dolphins get nervous, if you stimulate them
    in a way that they are not accustomed to {unless they are VERY amorous}.
    As long as you have a strong bond with them they are usually willing to
    try anything.  The dolphins I've been with seem to enjoy it.  Males
    included, however their penises have usually still been inside the
    sheath with just the tip sticking out.  Both of the zoos who contacted
    me have had pleasurable oral experiences with fins who were familiar
    with them.  In other words don't try it with a non-familiar fin, on the
    first date.

    Q6:  Is it true that a dolphin's penis is prehensile?
    A6:  The penis of an aroused dolphin is painfully rigid.  A male
    dolphin nearly dislocated my knee, while I was allowing him to
    pleasure himself on me.  Most of the times I've seen a dolphin's penis
    have been during sexual arousal, so the penis has been pointing in the
    same direction, toward the dolphin's head and slightly to the left.
    When it is erect, the only flexible part is the tip.  They will hook
    it on objects in order to pleasure themselves.  Most of the time their
    penis is close to their body, but they can push the head of it away
    from their body to hook large objects {like a leg}.  However I have
    been informed, that when not aroused they can use their penises for
    other activities.  A male bottlenose dolphin can curve the last 3 inches
    of their 12 inch penis around something with a diameter of at
    least 1 inch.  The dolphins penis is all muscle (a very strong one I
    might add), not vascular like a human penis.  The reddish color is due
    to increased blood flow to underlying capillary vesicles near the
    surface.  I still wouldn't consider this to be prehensile.

    Q7:  What does a dolphin's penis look like?
    A7:  It is tapered.  It starts out thick and gets narrow toward the
    tip.  When aroused, it is still tapered but it flattens out a little.
    A groove forms down the center and the thin end curves back to form
    the characteristic "hook".  It'll change color from mottled pink to an
    almost red depending on how aroused they are.  It is also very long,
    12 inches on average for the bottlenose dolphin.  Spotted dolphins
    are about 10 inches, common dolphins are about 9 inches, and
    Commerson's dolphins are the smallest at about 5 inches or less.
    Dolphins rarely extend the full length of their penises.

    Q8:  Do dolphins only mate belly to belly?
    A8:  No {finally, a direct answer}.  I've seen video of Spotted Dolphins
    mating belly to belly, but I've never witnessed this with Atlantic
    Bottlenose Dolphins.  From what I've seen, the female will float on
    her side at the surface.  The male will then slowly slide under her,
    going from ventral side to dorsal.  If the female hasn't jumped off
    the males belly, the male will get an erection and insert it into
    the female.  At this point, the female usually has her mouth open
    and her eyes closed. The male will thrust several times, then pull
    out and swim away. If there are no other males waiting to mate the
    female will slowly roll over and swim off with the other dolphins.
    This is how the dolphins, I've observed, mate.  The intensity of the
    mating may vary depending on other environmental factors ie:
    multiple males, the female's willingness to mate, and so on.

    Q9:  How long, after penetration, does it take for a male dolphin to
    climax?
    Q9:  Here I have good news and bad.  First the good news:  In a few
    minutes, he may be ready to go again.  Now the bad:  A dolphin can
    consider himself a major STUD, if he lasts an average of 12 seconds.
    I've seen males ejaculate before they even touch anything with their
    penis.  They can last up to around a minute, if gently pleasured by
    a human hand.

    Q10:  Does the vagina of a dolphin always contract after penetration?
    A10:  Yes, for the most part, but sometimes they like to let you do
    all the work.  That goes for pleasuring as well as mating.  I was
    reminded by another zoo that if a female doesn't want to participate,
    they can contract their vaginal muscles tight enough that nothing
    could penetrate them.  The other zoo also pointed out, that a female
    can do a lot more than just contract their vaginal muscles.  By
    expanding their upper vaginal muscles they can emulate sucking and
    blowing.  They can also ripple the muscles vaginal canal both upwards
    and downwards, in a milking motion.

    Q11:  How can you tell if a dolphin is amorous?
    A11:  There are a few different things they do when they are amorous.
    They may do one or all of these things.  I'll break them down to make
    it easier.

    a)  Floating -  That's what I call it when they float at the surface
    totally relaxed.  So relaxed in fact that they'd let you tow them
    around their pool all day and be as happy as a clam about it.  They
    may have their eyes open or closed, depending on how aroused they are.
    Usually their mouths are slightly open.  Their bodies may occasionally
    convulse as if they were dozing off then waking up again.  Females
    will most often assume this posture, but males will too if they're in
    the mood to be on the receiving end.  They will allow you to insert
    your fingers, penis, tongue, or what ever when they are in this frame
    of mind.

    b)  Mouthing -  Dolphins consider this sensual and arousing. They
    will place various body parts in their mouths and rub their teeth, and
    occasionally their tongues, across said body parts.  They can be
    gentle, but more often then not its rough.  The dolphins will
    sometimes rake their teeth across their partner's skin, leaving "rake
    marks" {a telltale sign of your activities}.  The male dolphins I've
    had experiences with occasionally will rake their partners, if they
    feel they're not being receptive enough.

    c)  Nudging/Buzzing -  A dolphin will do this with their mouths
    closed.  They'll rub their rostrum or bottlenose on various body
    parts.  The parts they choose are where they think your erogenous
    zones are.  They will usually emit high frequency sounds while
    nudging, it almost sounds like a buzzing bee.  This can sometimes be a
    sign of frustration and an immanent rake mark, but I have not
    experienced this myself.

    d)  Masturbating (Pleasuring)-  This should be self explanatory.  The
    males will try to "hook" you with their penis.  The females will try
    to insert various appendages into their genital slit.

    e)  Pec Check -  This is a precopulatory behavior.  Not to be confused
    with pec petting or rubbing, a common social behavior.  Dolphins use
    this as a way to see how receptive their partner may be as well as a
    way to tactually locate the genital slit prior to mating, sort of a
    "phin alignment guide".  They will swim by their perspective partner,
    reach out with an appendage {pectoral flipper, dorsal fin, or edge of
    their tail fluke}, and attempt to insert it into their partner's
    genital slit {or crotch as the case may be}.  If the appendage goes in
    easily, then their partner may be ready to mate.  If not, then more
    foreplay may be required.

    f)  Pink Belly - Most dolphins will get very pink on their bellies,
    particularly in the genital area, when they are aroused.  This can be
    a definite indicator of sexual readiness.  However, keep in mind, skin
    color can vary from dolphin to dolphin, or whale to whale.  They may
    have a pinkish tint naturally and may not be aroused at all.

    Q12:  How can I let a dolphin know that I'm amorous?
    A12:  The most important thing you can remember is:  Don't force
    yourself on them, get to know them.  They will let you know when they
    are ready, you have to learn their body language and behavior.
    Experiment a little, see where they like to be touch.  Just because
    they are promiscuous by nature, doesn't mean that they're always ready
    to mate.  Rub them all over a lot.  In the immortal words of John
    Cleese, "Try starting out with a kiss.  Don't STAMPEDE right for the
    clitoris!".

    As far as I'm concerned, the relationship is far more important to me
    then the possibility of sex.  Be there for your partners all you can,
    no matter what the species.  Do what ever is in your power to make their
    lives wonderful and chances are they'll do the same for you in return. I
    hope this was informative and helpful.  As I said feel free to e-mail me
    anytime, flypper@hotmail.com.

    Acknowledgements:
    I'd like to thank the zoo's who took the time and effort to read my
    original FAQ and send their opinions back to me.  I feel we have a lot
    to learn from each other's experiences and one can never know
    everything.

    Flypper
    "Normal is what everyone else is
    {or so they think}, and I"m knot."
    "Here's to swimmin with bow legged
    {tailed} dolphins"
    flypper@hotmail.com