Yes, dolphins poop or release feces or excrement depending on how you’d phrase it.
As a species, dolphins make up about half of the 80 – 90 or so cetaceans recorded so far.
All cetacean species (cetaceans include all species of whale, dolphin, and porpoise) release toxic waste from their bodies in one way or another, either through vomiting or pooping.
However, pooping is one of the most common ways to remove toxic waste and non-nutrient matter from the body and is a common characteristic of all animal species.
The amount of food a dolphin can eat varies, with some species consuming between 2% – 10% of their body weight in food daily.
As dolphins consume fish, squid, octopus, krill, shrimp, and other sources of food, their body needs to break down the food and separate the nutrients from the waste to excrete toxic substances from the body while also allowing their body to receive and absorb the proper nutrients it needs to grow healthy.
At birth, baby dolphins consume their mother’s milk from her nipple for the first six months to 2 years or until the baby dolphin can hunt, consume solid foods and survive on its own.
Note: Depending on the type of dolphin being observed, these marine mammals can range anywhere from 4 ft. long and 90 lbs. (Maui’s dolphin) up to 30 ft. long and 10 tons or more (the killer whale)!
Once eaten, the food that these marine mammals consume makes its way through the dolphin’s digestive system, where enzymes and acids break down the food into proteins and send those nutrients to the correct areas of the body where they can be stored and used; the rest of the non-nutrient waste goes through the anal tract and is excreted as poop.
When a dolphin poops or releases its excrement, the dolphin’s poop comes out as an almost liquid-like form of fecal matter (often in a plum-like cloud) which is sometimes light enough to float across the top of the seawater or near its surface.
Dolphin poop is very important for the ocean’s ecosystem (up to 50% of an animal’s poop may contain a large amount of energy) and for the healthy growth and production of various organisms, such as phytoplankton and fish that survive off of eating these organisms.
Studies detailing how sperm whale poop affects phytoplankton have shown that as phytoplankton grows from the nutrients found in sperm whale poop, it pulls more and more carbon from the atmosphere cleaning up the environment and creating a healthier ecosystem for both land and oceanic animals.
While not as much information has been collected regarding the effects of dolphin poop in regards to how it affects the ocean’s ecosystem, there is a good possibility that dolphin poop may serve a similar role/function in maintaining the balance of the ocean’s ecosystem and aquatic life.
In addition to pooping, dolphins can also vomit and pee, like most animals.