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Science
Baby Dolphin Lesson
by Margaret Etherton
Good morning, babies. Welcome to your first lesson on how to be a Bottlenose Dolphin. As you know, our home is the pleasant waters off the coast of Miami, with the dolphin pod to love and support you.
Bottlenose is a silly name to give dolphins like us. It is our mouth that is shaped like a bottle, not our noses! Having a big mouth is a good thing because it looks like we are smiling. Another species you will learn to know, the humans, gave us this name. Humans have not been on this earth as long as we have. You must learn to be patient with them even when they pet you. They like to swim with us and clap like crazy when we do our exercises.
For a long time humans thought that we were fish. Can you believe that? We are no more fish than the orca or the whale. We do not come from eggs, for we are born fully formed. Nor do we have gills; we breathe air. We are warm-blooded mammals like humans. Being mammals also means that we suck milk from our mothers.
We don't have the furry look like humans have. Though we are born with hair, we lose it shortly after birth. Besides, long hair would weigh us down in the water. Instead we are sleek and smooth to help us to glide through the water. A layer of blubber under our skin keeps us warm.
You are already excellent swimmers. It was lucky you could swim so fast the day you were born. Other dolphins helped you to the surface, where you took your first breath with a gulp and a gurgle. When you grow up, you will be able to stay underwater for half an hour. Imagine that!
Soon you will have lessons on how to leap, dive, and catch waves. You will be able to fly through the air and paddle backwards on water just like your parents. Did you know our kick is so clever and so strong that Olympic swimmers copy us? Their arms may move like a butterfly, but their feet imitate the kicks which propel us so fast through the water. (Aren't they silly to call it the butterfly stroke? They should call it the dolphin stroke.)
The most important thing to learn is your name whistle. It is your signature to tell others where you are. If you ever get lost, you only have to sing your whistle and other dolphins will rescue you. You will also have to memorize many clicks and clacks in order to communicate with others.
Dolphins are born with the ability to use sonar. We send out signals as a series of clicks from our blowholes or nasal passages. As the signals bounce off different objects, we hear them and then create a sound picture of our environment. At first you won't know the difference between a rock and a shark, but you will have to learn this quickly or you might be eaten for breakfast!
Lastly, you will have to learn to identify every dolphin in the pod and remember the proper way to behave with each one. You must learn how to show respect for older dolphins by opening your mouth or clapping your jaws.
That is the end of your first lesson in being a Bottlenose Dolphin. Look out for pollution, avoid rough waters, and stay close to your parents.
Now, what would you like to practice today? How about dive bombing?
Bibliography
Books:
Bailey, Jill. Factfile of Mammals: 200 Mammals From Around the World. London: Andromeda Oxford Ltd., 1996.
MacDonald, David, ed. The New Encyclopedia of Mammals. London: Oxford University Press, 2001.
Myers, Philip. Mammals, An Explore Your World Handbook. NY: Discovery Books, 2000.
Parish, Steve. Amazing Facts About Australian Marine Life. Archerfield Queensland: Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd, 1997.
Internet:
http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Mammalia.html
http://www.acsonline.org/factpack/btlnose.htm
http://www.dolphinworld.org/fl-swims.htm
http://www.dolphins.org/Learn/drc-rsch.htm
http://www.dolphinresearch.org.au
http://www.environment.sa.gov.au/coasts/pdfs/dolphins_of_sa_brochure.pdf
http://www.miamiseaquarium.com
http://www.southwest.com.au/~kirbyhs/dolphinsa.html
