Melissa Stewart - Dolphins

Melissa Stewart

Washington, D.C.

For Claire
M.S.

Text copyright 2010 National Geographic Society

Published by the National Geographic Society, Washington, D.C. 20036. All rights reserved.
Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission of the publisher is strictly prohibited.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Stewart, Melissa.
Dolphins / Melissa Stewart.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-1-4263-0652-5 (pbk. : alk. paper) ISBN 978-1-4263-0653-2 (library binding : alk. paper)
1. DolphinsJuvenile literature. I. Title.
QL737.C432S73 2010
599.53dc22

2009022832

cover, Photolibrary.com; 1, Flip Nicklin/ Minden Pictures; 2, Mauricio Handler; 4, Konrad Wothe/ Minden Pictures; 6, Carlos
Eyles; 7, David B. Fleetham/ SeaPics.com; 8-9, Brandon Cole; 10, Carlos Eyles; 12-13, Doug Perrine/ SeaPics.com; 14, Wolcott
Henry/ NationalGeographicStock.com; 15, Miriam Stein; 16-17, Hiroya Minakuchi/ Minden Pictures; 18-19, Doug Perrine/
SeaPics.com; 19 top, Ingrid Visser/ SeaPics.com; 20, Florian Graner/ naturepl.com; 20 inset, Uko Gorter; 21, Doug Perrine/
SeaPics.com; 21 inset, Uko Gorter; 22, Kevin Schafer; 23, Todd Pusser/ naturepl.com; 24, Michael S. Nolan/ SeaPics.com;
25 top, Joao Quaresma/ SeaPics.com; 25 bottom, Roland Seitre/ SeaPics.com; 26-27, Brandon Cole; 28, Leandro Stanzani/
Ardea.com; 29 top, Phillip Colla/ SeaPics.com; 29 center, Doug Perrine/ SeaPics.com; 29 bottom, Kevin Schafer; 31, Bob
Couey/ SeaWorld/ Getty Images; 32 top left, Brandon Cole; 32 center left, Leandro Stanzani/ Ardea.com; 32 bottom left,
Carlos Eyles; 32 center right, Leandro Stanzani/ Ardea.com; 32 bottom right, Doug Perrine/ SeaPics.com;

Printed in the United States of America
10/WOR/1

What swims
in the water,
but isnt a fish?

What whistles
and chirps,
but isnt a bird?

What loves to jump,
but isnt a frog?

Its a DOLPHIN!

A dolphin is a mammal
just like you.

Dolphins look like
fish, but they are different in some
very important ways.

Dolphins have lungs and breathe air. They get
oxygen through a hole on top of their heads.

Their tails move up and down.
They have soft, smooth skin.

A dolphins body temperature is always about
degrees Fahrenheit.

Fish have scales.

Fish have
gills. Gills
help fish get
oxygen from
the water.

Their tails bend from side to side.

A fishs body temperature matches the
temperature of the water its in.

Water

Words

OXYGEN:
An invisible gas
in air and water
that animals
breathe in.

MAMMAL:
A warm- blooded
animal that drinks
milk from its
mother and has a
backbone
and hair.

A baby dolphin
is called a calf.

A calf can swim as
soon as it is born.
It drinks milk from
its mothers body.
When the little
dolphin is about six
months old, it starts
to eat fish.

A baby dolphin has a small
mouth. The calf smacks
food against the water to
break it into bite- size bits.

Water

Words

CALF:
A young
dolphin

Q

What do dolphins have that no
other sea animals have?

A

Baby dolphins.

Dolphins live in small groups called
pods. Some pods join together to form
schools. A dolphin school may have
more than 1,000 animals.

Dolphins use squeaks, squeals, and
whistles to talk to each other.
Some dolphins in a pod are in
charge of watching for sharks and
other predators.

A dolphin pod

Every dolphin has its own
name. Each name is a series
of whistling sounds.

Water

Words

PREDATOR:
Animals that
eat other
animals

Dolphins work together to catch
prey. Dolphin pods will swim circles
around a school of fish until the fish
are tightly packed together.

This big group of fish is called a
bait ball. When the fish have
nowhere to escape, the dolphins
take turns diving in for a snack.

Water

Words

PREY: Animals
that are eaten
by other
animals

A dolphins body
is just right for
life underwater.

Flippers help a
dolphin start,
stop, and turn.

The fin on a
dolphins back helps
it stay balanced.

Its powerful tail pushes it
through the water.

When a dolphin swims slowly,
it rises to the surface and breathes
once or twice a minute. When a
dolphin swims fast, it leaps out
of the water to catch its breath.

Blowhole

When a dolphin breathes out, air blasts out of its
blowhole at miles an hour.

Q

Why did the dolphin cross
the ocean?

A

To get to the
other tide.

Dolphins have great eyesight,
but the ocean can be very
dark. Its hard for dolphins
to see the little fish they
like to eat on the ocean floor.

If a dolphin is hunting alone,
it will put its head to the ground
and make a clicking noise.

The noise hits anything in the
dolphins path and bounces back.
A dolphin can find a fish by
seeing it with sound!

This dolphin is using echolocation. You say it like this:
eck oh low kay shun. Dolphins actually use echoes to
locate the fish they cant see.

Q

What do dolphins like to eat
with peanut butter?

A

Jellyfish

More than different kinds of
dolphins live on Earth.

Most dolphins swim in warm ocean
waters near the Equator. But some live
in cooler seas north and south of the
Equator, and some even live in rivers.

The hourglass dolphin
lives way out in the
middle of the ocean.

The Hectors dolphin
usually stays close to land.