I am a zoologist by training and thought it would be fun to do a virtual zoo (the world is doing everything virtually right now, thanks to COVID-19). This cache is the next in the series and is sponsored by the letter D.
Who doesn't love dolphins? Did you know that all dolphins are whales but not all whales are dolphins? Many people are quite surprised to learn that there are about 40 different dolphin species. Among the smallest is the 4.5 foot long Hector's dolphin, Cephalorhynchus hectori, from New Zealand. The biggest is the 20+ foot long, Orcinus orca, the killer whale, which is found in all oceans of the world. I've worked with Commerson's dolphins, common dolphins, Pacific white-sided dolphins and bottlenose dolphins and have seen many more in the wild. Of all the dolphins I have had the privilege of knowing, my favorite one is a bottlenose dolphin, Tursiops truncatus, named Gracie. I met her in 1989 and she is super friendly and social. Tursiops can be seen off the coast right here in San Diego County. In fact, you may get to see some surfing the waves with the surfers down below.
Dolphins are mammals, not fish. Like other mammals, they breathe air (but can hold their breath for over 20 minutes, have live birth, are warm blooded, nurse their young, and have hair. Wait, what? You say, dolphins don't have hair. Well, you are partially correct. Adults do not, but calves have a slight mustache at birth which is shed to provide better streamlining.
Fun fact: Dolphins have no vocal cords but vocalize out of their nose which is called a blowhole. They also cannot breathe through their mouth, their lungs only connect to the blowhole.
Finding a spot to hide this cache was very difficult. I had intended to publish it on World Dolphin Day, April 14, but the street to the south of here named after a dolphin was not accessible to the general public. I then tried to hide it at Seagrove Park which was also closed. Now that things are starting to open back up again, I made the drive west to make the hide in the park. No luck. It is still closed. So I started moving south, street by street, until I found an appropriate hiding spot for a dolphin-themed cache. Even if you can't find a dolphin while looking at the ocean while you are here, you just need to turn around to see an artistic one behind you. No need to leave the cement to make the find.
Here is a link to the other caches in the Zoology series.