dolphins

Most Scarterrans believe dolphins are good natured and playful. Shipwrecked sailors have reported being carried towards shore by helpful dolphins and many sea faring humans and elves have light heartedly played with dolphins.
To Scaraquans, dolphins are complicated. They are familar with playful, friendly dolphins but they have also have seen dolphins at their worst. Scaraquans aren't sure if dolphins have mental ability of very clever beasts or if they have the mental ability of somewhat dim people.

Dolphins jumping out from ocean by Jonas Von Werne

If they are smart as people, that means dolphins have a cruel streak. Dolphins kill not just for defense or food but they kill for fun. Their mating practices are more than a little horrifying if you consider them to be on the same mental and spiritual level as people.
Scaraquans understand that the oceans are ultimately a kill-or be-killed environment, so they aren't horrified as modern humans might be the more brutal actions of "playful, gentle dolphins." Scaraquans understand that dolphins are quite complicated embodying both a gentle side and a vicious side.

Scaraquans believe that cetaceans (dolphins and whales) are messengers for the sea goddesses or sky gods. Scaraquan theologians and sages believe that sea creatures that breathe air are a natural spiritual bridge between the sea and sky.

un by Ranae Smith

Most of the time, a dolphin is just a dolphin, but once in a while the gods of the sea manifest their will through a dolphin and speak or act through the dolphin. Some speculate that dolphins take on a portion of the personality and behavior of the deities that act through them. Cruel dolphins are said to be touched by Bellusk and gentle dolphins are said to be touched by Enosha. Since Enosha wants to bring Scarterra and Scaraqua together in peaceful harmony, it makes perfect sense that the dolphins most Scarterrans are familar with are the friendly, helpful ones. In recent times, Kontona seems to be manifesting her will in dolphins more and more and this is skewing dolphins as a whole in a more mischievious direction.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Most readers of this article know what a dolphin looks like. Bottle nose, teeth that are simultaneously cute and scary, fins, blowholes, etc.

Like most creatures in the mortal plane, dolphins manifest elemental ethnicity and the most obvious manifestation is pigment.
Like just about everything else in Scaraqua, dolphins have a lot of influence from the elemental essence of water. Scaraquan dolphins that only have water influence with no secondary influences look pretty much exactly like real world dolphins. These sorts of dolphins are most commonly seen far out to sea in temperate waters.

lonely dolphin in blue water by Daniel Torobekov

Dolphins with air influence tender be rather paler skewing towards white pigmentation. They are relatively skittish and asocial compared to other dolphins. They are a little bit lankier than other dolphins. They are generally found in colder waters.
"Rocky" dolphins tend to be darker in hue and are a bit more trusting and outgoing.They are a little bit stockier than other dolphins. They are usually found in shallow ocean waters or near the shorelines.
Fiery dolphins tend to be reddish or orangish in pigment. They tend to be more aggressive or at least more mischievous and are most commonly found in warmer equatorial waters.

Genetics and Reproduction

Dolphins sexually reproduce and females usually give birth to one calf at a time. They provide a lot of care and teaching to their young.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Dolphins are opportunistic predators eating a wide variety of prey such as fish, crustaceans, jellyfish and squid. Prey is usually swallowed whole. Their are more for hooking prey than chewing prey.
With their sonar they are good at piercing camoflage abilities of many sea creatures and they are intelligent enough to use pack tactics when hunting and can help set up fish for their podmates to catch.

Additional Information

Geographic Origin and Distribution

In real world Earth, dolphins can be found in pretty much all non-polar waters. Scaraqua has a bit more subspecies of dolphin than Earth's oceans, with a few rare dolphins adapted to arctic waters. Like in real world Earth, there also a few species of river dolphins.
Dolphins are pretty much everywhere there is enough water and fish to support them.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Dolphin sense of sight and smell varies considerably from very good to virtually nonexistant. All dolphins have echolocation to help them find prey and avoid predators. Generally dolphins with the best echolocation have the weakest eyes and noses and visa versa but on the whole, dolphins have pretty good sensory packages.

What about orcas and whales?

Whale in blue depth of ocean

I'll cover them in detail later, but they also are also messengers of the sea goddesses and sky gods. The difference is dolphins act as messengers of the divine far more often, but when an orca or whale acts as a messenger of the divine, the messenge itself is bigger and weightier, metaphorically speaking.
In most cases dolphin divine messages are intended for individuals or small groups while whale messages are intended for whole tribes or societies.

Lifespan

25 to 30 years but there is a lot of variability with Scaraquan dolphins

Geographic Distribution

• Scaraqua
• Sea of Mangcha
• Sea of Mubete
• Sea of Resona
• Sea of Taedi
• The Dark Sea