by Alice Lynne Grace

Created on: June 07, 2008

Swimming with the Fishes
What animal did the Greeks treasure to such an extreme that killing this animal would be equal to murder (Greenberg 9-10)? This animal is eight feet to ten feet long and can way as much as 600 pounds. This animal can be easily mistaken for a fish but actually is a mammal (Bottlenose Dolphin). This animal can swim twenty miles per hour and hold its breath up to ten minutes ("Bottlenose Dolphin"; The New Book of Knowledge). This animal is the Bottlenose Dolphin. The Bottlenose Dolphin lives in tropical seas but cannot live in polar seas (Bottlenose Dolphin). The Bottlenose Dolphin has a mother that takes care of the young the father does not care for the young. The Bottlenose Dolphin has a body to help it swim sleekly and swiftly (Bottlenose Dolphin). The Bottlenose Dolphin habitat consists of tropical waters, and the mother has to take care of the calf, also the Bottlenose Dolphin is lucky to have many defense tactics (Prevost 8; Bottlenose-dolphin; Bottlenose Dolphin).

The Bottlenose Dolphin lives only in tropical waters. This is because the Bottlenose Dolphin does not have much fat or blubber to insulate itself and it does not exactly have fur to keep itself warm (Prevost 8; Bottlenose Dolphin). There are many tropical waters so the Bottlenose Dolphin has a huge range of living space (Hirschi 22). The Bottlenose Dolphin is a social animal so they form pods. In their pods they take care of each other and find food (Greenberg 87). When finding food the pod can choose to either go up to the surface and hunt or they can go to the dark depths of the ocean and bottom feed (Hirschi 30). As Hirschi states, "Dolphins eat only fish but they can also eat squid, crab, shrimp and other small seafood" (28 and 29). This is what makes up the Bottlenose Dolphins habitat. This includes tropical waters, pods, and food.
The Bottlenose Dolphin's life cycle starts out when a dolphin uses their taste sense to find a mate (Hirschi 16). After mating the male then leaves the female, by doing so the female forms a pod with other females to help take care of the expecting calf (Prevost 8). After 12 months of development the calf is born tail first so that it doesn't drown (Hirschi 35; Bottlenose dolphin). The mother then nurses the calf for eight months. This could be the reason why female dolphins only give birth every two to three years (Bottlenose-dolphin). During those eight months of nursing the females in the pod will act like nannies by taking care of the

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