animal of the week - dolphin

for a craft, we printed out a picture of a dolphin, colored and cut it out. then we used water colors and painted an ocean to glue the dolphin on to.

(bottlenose) dolphin - animal -

what do they eat? they are carnivores. They have cone shaped teeth which they use for catching food. They do not chew. They eat 10 to 30 pounds of food a day, primarily fish and occasionally shrimp, crab and squid. sometimes they follow boats hoping to eat any food tossed over the side.

do other animals try to eat them? people used to kill them by accident but now we are more careful. people also used to eat dolphins, use their skin to make leather and their blubber for oil. sometimes sharks eat them.

what is their skin like? The skin has a rubbery feel and is quite sensitive. It can be scratched and damaged easily but also tends to heal quickly. Its smooth texture helps the dolphin to slip easily through the water along with its streamline body shape. the fin on their backs are called dorsal fins. they are made of cartilage like our nose and ears.

what color are they? they are gray colored.

hatch or born? they are born. The gestation period for a bottlenose dolphin is about 12 months.
what are they like as babies? Babies are called calves and are born tail first. They range from 2.5 to 4 feet long. As soon as the calf is born, the mother helps it rise to the surface to take its first breath. Calves stay close to their mothers for at least 4 to 5 years. they nurse for 12 to 18 months.

can they be a pet? dolphins are tough to take care of but you can visit them at aquariums.

what size are they? Adults range from 6 to 13 feet in length and can weigh from 400 to over 1,000 pounds.

other description? The name Bottlenose came from their bottle-shaped nose. They have a blowhole on the top of their head to breath through. They have very good hearing. They have almost no sense of smell. They have excellent vision in and out of the water.

do boy and girls look different? The adult males are usually larger than the females.

habits? Bottlenose dolphins usually swim 3 to 7 mph but can swim at a fast speed of 20 to 30 mph. They can jump up to 20 feet out of the water.

Bottlenose dolphin - habitat -

land, air, sea? they live in the sea even though they are mammals and breath air.
what is their habitat like? tropical and temperate waters.

what other (of the same) animals live around them? they like to live together in big groups called pods. pods have about 12 dolphins. research has shown that the have a dolphin language and can speak to each other.

What other (different) animals live around them? they live all over the world so the animals that live around them vary greatly.

where do they live on the map/globe? In the Pacific Ocean, bottlenose dolphins are found from northern Japan and California to Australia and Chile. They are also found offshore in the eastern tropical Pacific as far west as the Hawaiian islands. Off the California coast bottlenose dolphins have been observed as far north as Monterey, particularly during years of unusual warmth. In the Atlantic Ocean, bottlenose dolphins are found from Nova Scotia and Norway to Patagonia and the tip of South Africa. They are the most abundant dolphin species along the United States from Cape Cod through the Gulf of Mexico. Bottlenose dolphins are also found in the Mediterranean Sea, and in the Indian Ocean from Australia to South Africa.

what is that place like? they like warm water. if they live in a place that is warm all year, they stay there. if the water gets cold in the winter, they swim south for the winter and swim back in the spring.