Yes, dolphins are carnivorous marine mammals.
Depending on the species, these marine mammals are known to eat various foods, such as fish, squid, octopus, crustaceans, cephalopods, and other marine mammals.
While smaller dolphin species tend to stick to a diet of fish and other small prey, larger species such as the killer whale and false killer whale (both belong to the dolphin family) are known to hunt and attack larger prey such as seals, sea lions, seabirds, penguins, sharks, and even large whales.
Among all the cetacean species, the killer and false killer whales are the only cetaceans known to hunt other marine mammals for food.
The killer whale was named “killer whale” because it is the largest dolphin species and has the largest diversity of foods.
It includes other marine mammals and various large animals, as described above.
The false killer whale (the third largest species in the dolphin family) received its name because it is similar in appearance to the killer whale and has a large, diverse diet.
However, these marine mammals are not closely related despite both being dolphins.
In addition to dolphins, the cetacean family also includes all whale and porpoise species.
The cetacean species are broken down into one of two suborders based on the characteristics of these marine mammals.
These two suborders are known as the toothed whale and baleen whale suborders.
All species of dolphins belong to the toothed whale suborder because they all possess teeth, use echolocation and have a single blowhole.
Overall there are around 40 + species of dolphin recorded so far.
For dolphins to capture their prey, these marine mammals use several different team-oriented hunting methods.
One of these strategic hunting methods involves a group of dolphins surrounding and circling their prey to block them from escaping.
The dolphins continue circling their prey to force them into a small dense ball.
Once their prey is trapped and isolated, the dolphins will swim through the ball one or two at a time and pick off the fish as they lay bundled together and helpless.
Another method often used by coastline dolphins is to try to force their prey into a corner, against a wall, or into a shallow riverbank near a river bed or the coastline where the water is too shallow to swim effectively to prevent their food from making an easy escape.
While all dolphins have teeth, not all species use them to their full advantage.
Some species use their teeth to tear apart their prey, while others use their teeth only to grab onto their prey and will swallow their food whole.
In regards to the baleen whale suborder, this suborder is composed entirely of large whales.
Compared to toothed whales, the baleen whale suborder possesses baleen plates with bristles (instead of teeth) and two blowholes.
The use of echolocation among these marine mammals is not well known.
Since baleen whales do not possess teeth, they hunt for food using a different strategy known as filter feeding.
It involves swimming toward large groups of fish (or other prey) and sucking up as much food as possible.
The baleen bristles capture and filter their prey from the water while allowing the water to pass in and out of the bristles quickly.
Once enough food has been captured, the whale uses its large tongue to push out the water and then swallows their prey whole.