The national animal of Greece is the common dolphin. These animals have been featured in Greek art since the classical period and have always held cultural importance to Greece and its people. It’s certainly a more unusual choice to pick an aquatic animal but dolphins have always inspired the human imagination so it is not surprising.
Greece is a diverse place in terms of its biospheres and there are many exotic creatures that can be found in and around Greece today.
Greece is home to multiple species of dolphin and any one of which may hold importance to the Greek people; but the common dolphin is the official national animal.
Let’s find out more.
What is the national animal of Greece?
The national animal of Greece is the common dolphin.
These animals have been featured in art in the area we now call Greece for thousands of years.
The Minoan civilization is the oldest known civilization in Greece to have depicted dolphins in its art.
There are frescoes from Minoan Crete depicting dolphins. Crete of course is part of Greece today and one of its islands, and historically was a big influence on Greek culture.
So, for at least 3000 years, dolphins have been important to people living in and around Greece.
The official national animal of Greece today is the common dolphin specifically.
They are, as the name suggests, not only the most abundant dolphin but the most common cetacean in the world, totalling around 6 million individuals worldwide.
However, despite its name, they are not considered to be what’s called an archetypal dolphin, which is usually assigned instead to the bottlenose dolphin.
Common dolphins are the only extant member of their genus, with bottlenose and other dolphins belonging to other groups.
They are medium-sized and range between 6 and 8 feet long.
They can weigh anywhere from 175 to 500 pounds, though usually ranging between 180 and 300, with the males generally being longer and heavier.
They have a very distinct color pattern, being darker on the top and lighter on the belly.
They live in both warm and tropical waters, and have a very varied diet consisting of many different species of fish and squid.
They have been recorded diving as deeply as 660 feet below the surface hunting for food.
They are still very commonly found in and around Greece today, but can also be found in the Northwest Atlantic from Cape Hatteras to Newfoundland. Dolphins are, as is well-known, among the most intelligent species on earth.
Why is the dolphin the national animal of Greece?
The dolphins in themselves symbolize many important Greek values, including compassion, hope, allegiance and the qualities of the sea that are so important to the Greek people.
Dolphins are seen as being highly cooperative animals that work together in pods sometimes hundreds strong, and so they are viewed as very important symbols of working together and of unity.
Dolphins continue to be important symbols of all of these things to modern Greek people and this has heavily influenced the decision to make them the official national animal.
On the other hand, though, you also have the question of the historical importance of dolphins.
The Minoan civilization is seen as one of the lynchpins not only of Greek culture but of Mediterranean culture in general, and thus for them to have depicted dolphins in their own frescoes shows how far back the veneration of these animals goes in the Mediterranean.
It’s a very important point historically that dolphins should continue to be an important national symbol in Greece and the Greek world more broadly like the Greek islands.
Greece is, in many ways, the cradle of modern European civilization; but they did not get there on their own and respect the importance of civilizations like the Minoan.
Are dolphins aggressive to humans?
Dolphins certainly can be aggressive to humans and they are apex predators in their own right, more than capable of hunting even sharks.
It’s very uncommon for dolphins to outright attack humans but at the same time they should certainly be treated as dangerous.
The chances of them fatally wounding a human are vanishingly low, but again, they are predators and carnivores and fairly territorial ones at that.
Watch the dolphins from the boat; don’t try and swim with them in the wild, you don’t know what you’re getting into!
Are common dolphins endangered?
Common dolphins are not currently endangered and are listed of as least concern.
They are not in danger of going extinct and are at present not even vulnerable. Now, with the changing climate and the effects we are having on the ocean, it’s very easy to see how that may change in the future.
Dolphins remain very successful animals today but that could change very soon, so conservation efforts towards the ocean in general and dolphin habitats are certainly already underway.
They have such a wide range that it would take a very long time for them to become truly endangered.
Greece made a very interesting choice to pick as its national animal a creature that you will never see on land.
It is again unsurprising, though, given the historical and cultural importance of dolphins in Greece.
Even today they continue to pull in tourists from all over the world and if only due to their immense intelligence, dolphins are often a point of fascination for people today.