This past week I went on a class trip down to Corpus Christi. My class first went to an aquarium. There we got to see many different animals including dolphins. Dolphins are interesting because they are one of the smartest animals in the world. Dolphins also have quite a few of traits that match up with humans. Dolphins are mammals, have teeth, are warm-blooded, and even have a four-chambered heart. Dolphins belong to the group called cetaceans. Dolphins can even communicate with each other. They each have their own unique whistle that can help dolphins differentiate each other from one another. Also dolphins do have the ability to see, hear, taste, and feel but they cannot smell. Dolphins use echolocation which is the method of using sound waves to find things such as food or other dolphins. Dolphin sizes vary greatly. Full grown bottlenose dolphins can be 8-9 feet long while killer whales can grow to be over 20 feet long (and yes, killer whales are a type of dolphin). There are many different types of dolphins and they are all fascinating. Dolphins have always been one of my favorite animals. They are very friendly but at the same time are more dangerous than sharks and most other oceanic animals. I hope that dolphins have always been an interesting animal to all of you guys as well.
Learn more about dolphins: http://teacher.scholastic.com/dolphin/about3.htm
