M.Erica

n = Hi. My name is Erica. I am studying the dolphin. Welcome to my page. = A bluish-gray dolphin dodged some pink spotted jellyfish in the middle of the ocean on a windy day to get away from a killer whale. By Erica M.  4/08 = I Love Dolphins = = = by Erica M. 4/08 Some people think dolphins are fish but they aren't. Dolphins are marine mammals. Dolphins actually have teeth! They have around 100 pointy cone shaped teeth. They are part of the toothed whale family. Dolphins are about 8 to 9 feet long. They weigh around 400 to 650 pounds. Their color is blueish gray. Did you know that the male bottle nosed dolphin is a bit bigger than the female?
 * A Dolphin **

Bottle nosed dolphins eat many kinds of fish, shellfish and squid. Adult dolphins can eat up to 40 pounds of fish a day. They spend up to eight hours a day hunting for food and eating it. Dolphins often follow fishermen to catch the fish attached to the bait. They also eat the small fish thrown overboard. Hunting dolphins also make clicking sounds. Their sounds bounce off a food souce. If it takes a long time for the sound to come back, the dolphin knows the food is far away. This is called echolocation. Dolphins have no taste or sense of smell.

When a baby dolphin is born it is able to swim right after birth. It is already one third as long as its mother. After a few days a baby dolphin learns to talk to other dolphins by making clicking sounds. A six month old dolphin eats solid foods but might drink from its mother until it is eighteen months old. Dolphins have babies every 2 to 4 years. They nurse their babies for 1 to 2 years.

Hungry sharks and killer whales will hunt on baby dolphins. If a dolphin is in a group it can defend itself. Sometimes they will group up to attack a shark! Each year tons of dolphins get killed just because of fishing nets. Dolphins have to watch out for humans.

Bottle nosed dolphins live in oceans all over the world. They often live in bays or lagoons. Some live in open oceans but not far from land. Dolphins are always in groups called pods. Dolphins are never alone.

Dolphins can jump as high as 16 feet! Did you know that the male dolphin is called the bull, the female is called the cow and the baby is called calf?

Why is the ocean blue?

How many oceans are there in the world? What are the main "oceans" called? The Arctic, Atlantic, Pacific, Indian and Southern.

What is a sea? A sea is like a little ocean with some land around.

Why is the ocean salty? The salt is from the rocks and and soil that has washed into the ocean.