Please teach me a meaning.

Question

“The dolphins also navigate by swimming on their side. ” This is a sentence from an essay about dolphins living in the river. I can't understand the meaning of “ by swimming on their side. ”

Does this mean they always swim their own customary way or anything else?

Enoon · Accepted Answer

emilky“The dolphins also navigate by swimming on their side. ” This is a sentence from an essay about dolphins living in the river. I can't understand the meaning of “ by swimming on their side. ”Does this mean they always swim their own customary way or anything else?

I can't tell what it means just from that. "Also navigate" is puzzling. Please provide some sentences before and after that one.

There are river dolphins that do not swim with their eyes looking left and right like normal dolphins but in a posture that has one eye looking up at the water's surface and the other looking down toward the river bottom—on their side.

Emilky · Answer

Oh, now I may understand that meaning. Does it mean they swim sideways? Anyway, these are more sentences from the essay.

“River Dolphins Though most dolphins are marine mammals, four known species live in rivers. They share the rounded body shape, pointed snout, and sharp teeth of marine dolphins.However, because these dolphins live in waters too cloudy to see in, their eyes are underdeveloped. River dolphins use echolocation to find their way around. They make clicking sounds and listen to how the sounds bounce off underwater objects. The dolphins also navigate by swimming on their side and trailing one fin along the river bottom. ”

CalifJim · Answer

emilkyDoes it mean they swim sideways?

Yes, with their bodies rotated on their head-to-tail axis 90 degrees right or left from their normal (back-up, belly-down) swimming posture.

CJ

Emilky · Answer

I see! Thank you so much! Now the riddle's been solved.

Please teach me a meaning.

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