All about dolphins

Dolphins relatives They are sea mammals. There are forty (40) kinds of different dolphins. The largest whale is killer whale. This is a picture of killer whale.

Pictures of other species of dolphins This is a picture of spotted dolphins. This is a picture of two bottle nose dolphins.

Where dolphins live They either live in the sea, ocean or sometimes the lake. There are a couple of types that live in fresh water.

How dolphins are born The baby comes out of the mothers tail first. The baby dolphin is pushed by the mother to the surface to breathe air. It takes twelve months for a baby dolphin to be born. The mother will feed and protect the baby. The baby dolphin stays close to the mother for about a year.

This is a picture of a bottlenose dolphin.

Communicating They communicate with each other by making whistling and clicking sounds. They use body movements to communicate with each other such as splashing.

Breathing Dolphins breathe out of the top of their head called a blowhole. The blowhole where the dolphins breathe out of makes squeaks, whistles, and moan sounds. Dolphins come up for air every thirty seconds, but can stay under water for six to seven minutes. Dolphins are capable of making deep rapid dives of more than one thousand feet.

Moving Around Dolphins are excellent swimmers. They have smooth, rubbery skin to help them swim easily through the water. They move by using their flippers and tails.

The way dolphins swim They swim in schools, which is many dolphins swimming together.

Finding food Dolphins either eat squid and fish. Dolphins have very small teeth to help them catch what they are going to eat. They have no sense of smell or sight like we do, so they listen in the water for echoes to find food. The echoes they hear tell them the shape, speed, size, and location of what they are trying to find. A dolphin uses echoes to find food, which produces pictures in their head called sonar.

Picture of dolphin using sonar to find food to eat.

The length and weight of dolphins The length of dolphins can be up to twenty feet long. Bottle nose dolphins are usually fifteen to twelve feet long. They weigh up to one thousand and four hundred pounds or more.

How dolphins play Dolphins love to play different kinds of games with people. They do neat flips and splashes in the air with their fins.

Being around people Dolphin are very intelligent animals. They love to be around people.