To be able to see colors, the retina must have at least 2 different kinds of cones, with different sensitivities. Most mammals have 2 types of cones: L-cones (sensitive to long-wavelength light, red to green) and S-cones (sensitive to short-wavelength light, blue to violet or near UV). Humans and some other primates have 3 types of cones, giving them better color vision. Only a few land mammals have only one type of cone, which means they are colorblind. All these land mammals are essentially nocturnal animals.
Whales and dolphins (as well as seals and sea lions) have only one type of cone: the L-cones. Although these cones are more sensitive for short-wavelength light than the L-cones of terrestrial mammals, they still have a very low sensitivity for blue light. And because there is only one type of cone, dolphins are essentially, if not completely, colorblind.* So don’t bother asking a dolphin if a rose is blue, green or pink.
Dolphin eyes may not be able to see colors, but unlike humans, they can see very well even in murky water, because a dolphin’s eye has many more rod cells than a human eye has, making it very sensitive to low-light conditions.
Reference:
* L. Peichl, G. Behrmann & R.H.H. Kröger,
European Journal of Neuroscience, vol. 13: 1520-1528
To learn more about Clearwater Marine Aquarium’s resident dolphins, click here
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This is a very interesting blog, i actually did an article about the differences between Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises, listing all the different physical and personal attributes and subtitles to differentiate them. i did not know that they were color blind and sensitive to low light conditions. Kudos