Dolphins

ABOUT

Bartle School picked a great mascot! Not only are dolphins cute, fast, and strong, they are also incredibly smart, friendly, and caring! Dolphins will help the sick or hurt members of their pod. And they are so curious and playful. They love to investigate new things. Dolphins are not fish. They are – are you ready for this? – whales! Seriously. They are toothed whales, a type of Cetacea, along with orcas. But some of the most interesting things about dolphins are how they eat and sleep. Has your parent ever had to tell you to chew your food? A dolphin’s parent would never say that to them because dolphins don’t chew their food before they eat it. Even though they have teeth, dolphins only use their teeth to catch food. And then, after they eat their food, it can go into one of their two stomach. Yes, you read that right! Dolphins have TWO stomachs – one is for storing food and the other is for digesting the food. And when they sleep, dolphins only “turn off” half of their brain. One half of their brain stays awake and alert to the world around them in case of any danger while the other half of their brain rests. Don’t you wish you could do that?!

IN TROUBLE

Unfortunately, these incredible animals face a lot of threats to their environments. The first is climate
change. With water temperatures rising, a lot of the food that dolphins typically eat are moving into
deeper, cooler waters. While dolphins are great divers, they need air to breathe. Scientists are afraid
that the changes to their environment and food are happening too quick for the dolphins to adapt.
Fishing is another threat to dolphins. They can get tangled in fishing nets or get hurt by fishing gear left
in the ocean. Ocean noises can also be harmful to dolphins. Dolphins are sensitive to sound and
communicate by echolocation so noises from commercial fishing boats or military sonars can confuse
them into swimming into areas they aren’t meant to.

HOW TO HELP

Because dolphins are so smart, some people have made money from capturing dolphins and training
them to perform in shows for people as entertainment. But no dolphin wants to be stuck in a tank. They
need open spaces to swim and lots of other dolphins to socialize with. We can help by not supporting
places that use dolphins for shows or that offer to let you swim and touch dolphins. Their natural
environment is best for them. We can also, of course, work to keep our oceans clean, free of chemicals,
pollution, and fishing gear. These super smart animals deserve to live their long lives – nearly 50 years
long! – in clean, expansive waters.