One animal of the many in the Astounding Atlantic Ocean is the
delightful dolphin. The dolphin is a whale like "cetacean." Cetaceans
are a group of animals inside the group of mammals. Cetacean is a
Latin word that means large sea animal.
Dolphins reach their full size when they are five or six years
old. Dolphins average weight at birth is 55 pounds. When they are
adults their average weight 385 to 440 pounds.
Dolphins drink milk from their mother when they are young. When
they get older they eat 13 to 14 pounds of fish each day. If the
dolphins are bigger then they eat more pounds of fish. Dolphins catch
their food by herding them up and then eating as much as they need.
Dolphins have a smooth gray skin.
They have fins or flippers that help propel them when they swim.
They swim very fast they can swim 30 knots without effort. (A knot is
how you measure how fast a boat is traveling.) Dolphins don't breathe
water they breath the air.
Dolphins are very intelligent animals. Since they are intelligent
human beings teach them to do tricks and preform them in front of
audiences. They can do tricks like jump high to touch a targeted ball
or they can jump over and through things. Studies show they tie with
dogs for being the most intelligent mammals after human beings. They
are also very friendly animals. If you see them swimming close to
your boat your can reach out and touch them for a few seconds.
Dolphins communicate by squeals and echos. They will squeal and when
they hear an echo. Then they can locate their prey or find another
dolphin.
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