Dolphins By Emmy Richards
Table of Contents Body Part to Body Part. 3 A Baby Dolphins Attack 4 Superstitions 5 Whale or Dolphin? 6 New Burrunan 7 Horrific Sharp Teeth 8 Glossary.. 9
Body Part to Body Part Dolphins have very interesting bodies that help them to survive in their ocean habitat. When dolphins swim, their strong tails push them through the water. The two flippers on the sides of their bodies help the dolphins steer. The fin that sticks up
Dolphins like to swim in shallow water and deep water. on its back is to help the dolphin balance when it swims. The dolphin s body is smooth so it can glide through the water easily. The dolphin s body is made for water not for land. Dolphins can hold their breath for a long time but they breathe air just like we do. Because they need air, they have to come to the ocean s surface to catch their breath before they dive back down. Dolphins have a blowhole like our mouths but they have them on their backs.
A Baby Dolphins Attack Baby dolphins can sometimes get separated from their mothers, which is very dangerous. The baby sometimes becomes disoriented and swims another dolphin thinking it is still following it s mother. Sooner or later the baby dolphin figures out that the dolphin it is following is NOT it s mother. It will Dolphins can recognize an old friend s call even after 20 years apart. usually get scared and swim all over the place, swimming farther and farther away from it s mother thinking it is getting closer.
When the mother doesn t see the baby she will make a special whistling noise to call the baby back. Sometimes the baby will be too far away to hear and will still swim farther away from its mother. Without it s mother to guide and protect it, the baby dolphin could swim to where the sharks hang out. The sharks get hungry when they see the size of the dolphin and know it s a baby. They swim after it and of course the baby dolphin is slower than the sharks so when the baby gets tired the sharks attack. The mother of this baby will keep calling it back to the family for a couple of days. If the baby doesn t come back after another couple of days then the family will know the baby is either dead or too far away to hear the whistling.
Superstitions Do you know what a superstition is? A superstition is a belief that one thing causes another. Some people believe a few superstitions about dolphins. There are people who fear to hunt dolphins because they think it will do damage to the baby dolphin or the dolphin s family. Some people fear that if they capture a pregnant mother dolphin the baby will get a disease and spread the disease to the humans. For sailors, dolphins swimming with the ship are considered a sign of good luck. Dolphins are also considered a sacred friend of fishermen and if you see them while you are fishing, many believe they have your good fortune in mind and you are under their protection.
Whale or Dolphin Do you know which dolphin is the biggest? Well, it s the orca also known as the killer whale. Orcas are the largest of the dolphin family and the world s most powerful predators. They feast on marine animals and also fish, squid and seabirds. Killer whales hunt in pods, family groups of up to 40 individuals. Orcas make a lot of different sounds to communicate. Like other dolphins they use echolocation to communicate and hunt. They make sounds that travel under water until they hit something, then they bounce back and tell the shape, size, and location.
New Burrunan A new species of dolphin was found in Victoria Australia, Phillip Bay in 2011. It is only the third time since the 1800s that a new species of dolphin has been discovered. This new dolphin is called the Burrunan dolphin and it is a bluish grayish black color. These dolphins have really short noses. Only around 150 of this kind of dolphin have been found in two locations in Australia. The Burrunan dolphin is smaller than the common bottlenose dolphin. It is named after an Aboriginal phrase that means large fish of the porpoise kind.
Horrific sharp teeth Can you guess how many sharp teeth dolphins have? Dolphins have 220 teeth that are excellent for grabbing slippery fish and squid. Their teeth are a very important part of their body. If they didn t have teeth they would starve because their teeth help them grab their prey. Dolphins don t chew, they swallow whole. Dolphins enjoy eating many kinds of squid, large fish, and occasionally turtles.
Depending on the species, some dolphins such as the killer whale use their teeth to rip apart the flesh of their prey in order to kill it and make it easier to consume. Other species, such as the bottlenose dolphin, only use their teeth to grip their prey but will consume their food whole.
Glossary occasionally- sometimes, not always fascinating- thinking it s awesome reported- turning it in to the news by saying attack Kill or hurt pod -a group, together superstition- a belief that one thing causes another