Bottlenose Dolphins
by Bryan, 9 years old ~ St. James, NY

        Dolphins are smart and interesting animals. They are mammals just like us humans. They are warm blooded, they breathe air, and the babies drink milk from their mothers. Dolphins use echolocation (send out rays) to find other animals under water. There are many kinds of dolphins.  Even the killer whale is a dolphin.

        The bottlenose dolphin is one of the most common dolphins. Bottlenose dolphins get their name from the shape of their snout. They are chunkier than the other dolphins. The bottlenose dolphin can jump up to 13 feet out of the water ! They have different colors and markings. Some have spots or light stripes. Many have gray backs but some have brown or bluish backs.

        Bottlenose dolphins live in oceans all over the earth - except they don't live in the polar areas. They usually live in the same area for a long period of time. The bottlenose dolphins might migrate to catch food. They are often seen with other sea mammals.

        Bottlenose dolphins don't have all the senses that people have. Can you believe that with such a big nose they are not able to smell ? Their vision is good in and above water.

        These cool dolphins do not have many enemies. If they are near an enemy their main defense is to swim away. They are lucky because they can swim up to 25 miles per hour. Being in a pod (a group of dolphins) also helps them because they have more help keeping an eye out for their predators (animals that want to eat them).

        The pod is also helpful when they are tracking down their food (mostly fish and squid). They work together to herd up their food. They click and whistle to let the other dolphins know what they are doing.

        Dolphins are very social animals. They seem to have close relationships with the members of their pod. There are many stories of dolphins being very helpful and friendly to people.

        Bottlenose dolphins are very neat looking, smart water mammals. I hope you find them as interesting as I do.