Dolphins
Dolphins are one of the most beautiful animals
in the word. Dolphins are
mammals and are part of the Delphinidae family.
This family contains various
highly intelligent aquatic mammals. The name
dolphin refers to the species that
a have a beak like snout and a slender
streamline body which helps them to swim
at high speeds. Some species can
swim up to speeds of 35 mph. Dolphins have a
rubbery feeling skin that is
hairless; this helps them swim through the water
with little resistance.
Their skin is very sensitive and has no protection from
bumps or bruises.
This is because the outer layer is made up entirely live
cells. Since the
outer layer is made up out of live cells it is shed every two
hours to keep
the cells fresh. Dolphins use their flukes to swim through the
water by
beating the flukes up and down. Men have studied dolphin’s flukes on
a
dolphin to improve the effectiveness of submarine and boat propellers.
The
feeding habits of a dolphin vary; it depends on what is available at the
time. A
simple meal contains of small fish or squid. Many have to go where
the food is
and look to find their food. Dolphins use their teeth to catch
the food, yet
they do not use their teeth to eat the food because they
swallow it hole.
Dolphins do not have the best eyesight. They rely on
echolocation to help them
get where they are going. Echolocation is the use
of using sounds to see what is
going on up ahead. They make a clicking noise,
which is used to find if objects
are up ahead. This is because if the noise
bounce back they know that there is
an object up ahead. They also use this
for communicating with other dolphins.
Dolphins are found in many
different parts of the world in various oceans and
even in some freshwater
rivers in Asia, Africa, and South America. The river
dolphins are in danger
of extinction because of pollution and dams. The main
place to see dolphins
is in the warm waters of the pacific area. The main
dolphins seen are the
White-bellied dolphins and the Bottle-nosed dolphins. The
most common dolphin
can be found in all temperatures and tropical sees. This
dolphin is dark
above, white below, and has bands of gray white and yellow on
the sides.
Dolphins sleep in a semi-alert. This is because they have to
protect
themselves for the dangers of people and other animals they do this
by resting
one side of their brain at a time. Dolphins usually stay in-groups
of twenty
when they are in the coastal areas. When they are out in the sea
they are
usually in bigger groups. This is because dolphins help each other.
They
communicate with one another and when one dolphin is sick or injured
they help
out that dolphin as much as they can. They also work as teams if
danger is near
by. Dolphins are very intelligent and can be taught to do many
different tricks.
Maybe one of the most dangers a dolphin has is a human.
This is because of the
ways of tuna fishing. Fishermen were aware of the fact
that schools of dolphins
and tuna move together. Tuna seem to follow dolphins
very closely. Fisherman
used to put down nets to catch the tuna, but they
would also catch the dolphins.
They would bring up the tuna and the
dolphins in the nets. They then would
separate the tuna from the dolphins and
through back the dolphins no matter if
they were injured or dead. This was
not very good for the dolphins so the
government has now stepped in and the
dolphins are now safe. Dolphins may be
neat to look at when you are out in
the water and they are swimming freely but
they shouldn’t be bothered. These
dolphins should be left alone; many people
are feeding the dolphins junk food
and swimming with them, which puts the
dolphins in danger. The dolphins are
eating food that they are not used to and
when they have their babies the
babies are dying. Many studies have proven that
they are dying because of
malnutrition the food that they are getting is not
healthy for them to grow.
Dolphins are loved all over the world. Hopefully they
will be here for along
time. People should stop hurting dolphins and let them do
what they want
freely.
Bibliography
Connor,
Richard "The Lives of Whales
and Dolphins" Henry Holt and Company New York,
New York 1994 Cousteau,
Jacques-Yves and Diole, Philippe "Dolphins" Federal
Republic of Germany
1975 Encyclopedia Britannica CD ROM Seideman, David
"Swimming With
Trouble"Audubon September-October 1997
pg.76