5 - The Dolphin

The Dolphin

Can dolphins talk? Maybe they can't talk with words, but they talk with sounds. They show their feelings with sounds.

Dolphins travel in a group. We call a group of fish a "school." They don't study, but they travel together. Dolphins are mammals, not fish, but they swim together in a school.

Dolphins talk to the other dolphins in the school. They give information. They tell when they are happy or sad or afraid. They say "Welcome" when a dolphin comes back to the school. They talk when they play. They make a few sounds above water. They make many more sounds under water. People cannot hear these sounds because the sounds are very, very high. Scientists make tapes of the sounds and study them.

Sometimes people catch dolphins for a large aquarium. (An aquarium is a zoo for fish.) People can watch the dolphins in a show. Dolphins don't like to be away from their school in an aquarium. They are sad and lonely.

There are many stories about dolphins. They help people. Sometimes they save somebody's life. Dolphin meat is good, but people don't like to kill them. They say that dolphins bring good luck. Many people believe this.