Dauphin Island is a town in Mobile County, Alabama, United States, located on a barrier island also named Dauphin Island. As of the 2000 census, the population of the town is 1,371. It is included in the Mobile metropolitan statistical area. It was named after Louis XIV's great-grandson and heir, the Dauphin.

The Gulf of Mexico is to the south of the island; the Mississippi Sound and Mobile Bay are to the north. The island's eastern end helps to define the mouth of Mobile Bay. The eastern, wider portion of the island is shaded by thick stands of pine trees, but the narrow, western part of the island features scrub growth and few trees.

Dauphin Island, Alabama is the name of the incorporated community situated on the island. The island has a permanent population of about 1,200. It is home to Fort Gaines, Dauphin Island Sea Lab, The Estuarium public aquarium, several restaurants, an airport, boat ramps, a large public pier, new condominium developments, historics sites, and numerous private homes. Beaches attract tourism, and fishing is a popular activity in the waters around the island. The island is connected to the mainland by the Gordon Persons Bridge.

Although the island has several bird sanctuaries, the main one is the 164 acre (66.37 ha) Audubon Bird Sanctuary. Dauphin Island is the first landfall encountered by many birds as they migrate north from South America, and as a consequence many species can be found resting there before continuing their journey.

Alabama (formally, the State of Alabama; ) is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland waterways. The state ranks 23rd in population with almost 4.6 million residents in 2006.

From the American Civil War until World War II, Alabama, like many Southern States, suffered economic hardship, in part because of continued dependence on agriculture. White rural interests dominated the state legislature until the 1960s, while urban interests were underrepresented.George Mason University, United States Election Project: Alabama Redistricting Summary, accessed March 10, 2008 In the years following World War II, Alabama experienced significant recovery as the economy of the state transitioned from agriculture to diversified interests in heavy manufacturing, mineral extraction, education, and high technology, as well as the establishment or expansion of multiple military installations, primarily those of the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force. Today, the state is heavily invested in aerospace, education, health care, and banking, and various heavy industries including automobile manufacturing, mineral extraction, steel production and fabrication.

Alabama is unofficially nicknamed the Yellowhammer State, which is also the name of the state bird. Alabama is also known as the "Heart of Dixie". The state tree is the Longleaf Pine, the state flower is the Camellia. The capital of Alabama is Montgomery, and the largest city by population is Birmingham. The largest city by total land area is Huntsville. The oldest city is Mobile.

The Gulf of Mexico (Spanish:Golfo de México) is the ninth largest body of water in the world. Considered a smaller part of the Atlantic Ocean, it is an ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. The shape of its basin is roughly oval and approximately 810 nautical miles (1,500 km) wide and filled with sedimentary rocks and debris. It is part of the Atlantic Ocean through the Florida Straits between the U.S. and Cuba, and with the Caribbean Sea (with which it forms the American Mediterranean Sea) via the Yucatan Channel between Mexico and Cuba. Tidal ranges are extremely small due to the narrow connection with the ocean. The gulf basin is approximately 615,000 mi² (1.6 million km²). Almost half of the basin is shallow intertidal waters. At its deepest it is 14,383 ft (4,384 m) at the Sigsbee Deep, an irregular trough more than 300 nautical miles (550 km) long.

It was probably formed approximately 300 million years ago as a result of the seafloor sinking. There is evidence that the Chicxulub Crater was formed when a large meteorite hit the earth 65 million years ago which may have led to the Cretaceous?Tertiary extinction event.

The Dauphin of France ()?strictly, Dauphin of Viennois (Dauphin de Viennois)?was the title given to the heir apparent of the throne of France from 1350 to 1791, and from 1824 to 1830.

Guy VIII, Count of Vienne, had a dolphin on his coat of arms and had been nicknamed le Dauphin (French for dolphin). The title of Dauphin de Viennois descended in his family the LeVieux Princes of Ivetot until 1349, when Humbert II sold his seigneurie, called the Dauphiné, to King Philippe VI on condition that the heir of France assumed the title of le Dauphin. The wife of the Dauphin was known as la Dauphine.

The first French prince called le Dauphin was Charles V. The title was roughly equivalent to the English title Prince of Wales, the Scottish title Duke of Rothesay, or the Spanish title Prince of Asturias. The official style of a Dauphin of France, prior to 1461, was par la grâce de Dieu, dauphin de Viennois, comte de Valentinois et de Diois ("By the Grace of God, Dauphin of Viennois, Count of Valentinois and of Diois"). A Dauphin of France would unite the coat of arms of the Dauphiné, which featured Dolphins, with the French fleurs-de-lys, and might where appropriate further unite that with other arms (e.g. François, son and Dauphin of Francis I, was ruling Duke of Brittany, so united the coat of arms of that province with the typical arms of a Dauphin of France; Francis II, whilst Dauphin, was also King of Scots by marriage to Mary, Queen of Scots, and so added the arms of the Kingdom of Scotland to those of the Dauphin of France).

Originally, the Dauphin was personally responsible for the rule of the Dauphiné, which was legally part of the Holy Roman Empire, and which the Emperors, in gifting the rule of the province to the French heirs, had stipulated must never be united with France. Because of this, the Dauphiné suffered from anarchy in the 14th and 15th centuries (since the Dauphins of France were frequently minors, or concerned with other matters).

The province was united with France by Louis XI. During his period as Dauphin, Louis defied his father, Charles VII, by remaining in the province longer than the King had permitted and by engaging in personal politics more beneficial to the Dauphiné than to France. For example, Louis married Charlotte of Savoy against his father's wishes. Savoy was a traditional ally of the Dauphiné, and Louis wished to reaffirm that alliance, so as to stamp out rebels and robbers in the province. Louis was driven out of the Dauphiné by Charles VII's soldiers in 1456, leaving the region to fall back into disorder. After his succession in 1461, Louis united the Dauphiné with France, bringing it permanently under royal control.

The title of Dauphin was automatically conferred upon the next heir apparent to the French throne in the direct line upon birth, accession of the parent to the throne, or death of the previous Dauphin, unlike the English title Prince of Wales; which was (and is) granted at the will of the monarch, rather than as an automatic right at birth as was the case with the Dauphin.

The title was abolished by the Constitution of 1791, which made France a constitutional monarchy. Under the constitution, the heir to the throne (Dauphin Louis-Charles at that time) was restyled as Prince Royal (a Prince of the Blood would be retitled as prince français), taking effect from the inception of the Legislative Assembly on 1 October 1791. The title was restored in potentia under the Bourbon Restoration of Louis XVIII; there was not, however, another Dauphin until his death. With the accession of his brother Charles X, Charles' son and heir, Louis-Antoine, Duke of Angoulême, automatically became Dauphin.

However, with the removal of the Bourbons, the title fell once again into disuse (the heirs of Louis-Philippe being titled as Prince Royal). After the death of Henri, comte de Chambord, Carlos, Duke of Madrid, the heir of the legitimist claimant, Juan, Count of Montizón, made use of the title in pretense, as have the Spanish legitimist claimants since.

Dolphins are marine mammals that are closely related to whales and porpoises. There are almost forty species of dolphin in seventeen genera. They vary in size from 1.2 metres (4 ft) and 40 kilograms (88 lb) (Maui's Dolphin), up to 9.5 m (30 ft) and ten tonnes (the Orca or Killer Whale). They are found worldwide, mostly in the shallower seas of the continental shelves, and are carnivores, mostly eating fish and squid. The family Delphinidae is the largest in the Cetacea, and relatively recent: dolphins evolved about ten million years ago, during the Miocene. Dolphins are considered to be amongst the most intelligent of animals and their often friendly appearance and seemingly playful attitude have made them popular in human culture.