Dolphins The Dolphins of South Carolina A Johns Island Conservancy Coloring Book
By Colin Cuskley & Steve Roper
Visit our website at WWW.JICSC.ORG
The Johns Island Conservancy is pleased to present Dolphins, A Coloring Book featuring Sandy the Dolphin.
The Story of Dolphins Dolphins and people have been friends for thousands of years. The ancient Greek myths tell many stories about dolphins. One tells of the poet Arion who was saved from drowning and carried safely to land by a dolphin. For their service to Poseidon, the Greek Lord of the Sea, dolphins were placed among the stars with their own constellation, Delphinus.
Ancient Greek Dolphin Coin
Over the centuries, many stories from Italy to New Zealand tell how dolphins rescued drowning sailors or led ships away from dangerous waters. A TV show in 1964, Flipper, was about a dolphin who lived in the sea near Florida and was friends with a park ranger and his sons. Flipper helped the ranger and his two boys out of trouble many times. But Flipper was still a wild animal and roamed the Caribbean Sea freely. Dolphins became popular attractions at aquariums and marine parks such as SeaWorld. But as scientists learn how smart dolphins are, many people believe that we should not keep them captive as pets or for entertainment. South Carolina has a law that does not allow dolphins to be held captive in our state. We are lucky to have many dolphins who live year round in the rivers and bays of South Carolina. If you are on a dock or a boat you may see them swimming along. They will often come to the surface to breath. If you are very lucky you may see them come out of the water on a beach or mud bank to catch fish. This is called strand feeding. If you are out looking for dolphins and see them do not get too close. Never try to swim with wild dolphins. They can hurt you and if they are sick, you may get sick. But if you are lucky enough to see a dolphin, stop, watch, take a picture and enjoy.
Dolphins are marine mammals. They live in the water. They breathe air and have babies. Whales are their cousins.
Dolphins breathe through their nose. It is called a blow hole. Their blow hole is on the top of their head.
Dolphins are smart and like to play. Dolphins can see underwater by making sounds and listening.
South Carolina has many dolphins. The Kiawah River by Johns Island has 24 dolphins.
Baby dolphins are called calves. Their mothers nurse them to feed them, just like cows.
Dolphin kids love to play, swim and jump. They are very socialble and Bottlenose Dolphins are the Dolphins you see most often in Marine Parks.
You can tell dolphins apart by their fins. Many dolphins are named by their fins. The two dolphins on this page are named Chip and Hook. Can you see why ?
Dolphins eat fish. The Kaiwah River dolphins eat a lot of red fish and mullet.
Our Kiawah River dolphins are special. They chase fish up on to the beach and then come out of the water to catch them!
Herons and pelicans like to follow the dolphins and try to catch their fish.
Kiawah River Birds
Great Blue Heron
Black Skimmer
Brown Pelican
Oyster Catcher
If you see wild dolphins, do NOT get TOO close
For parents and grownups: The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration guidelines encourage viewing from a minimum distance of 50 yards. Harassment of marine mammals, including dolphins, is illegal.
What do you think my name is ?
These two dolphins already have names. Do you remember their names? Write their names above.
These two dolphins need names. Can you name them? Write their new names above.
Help Sandy find the fish...
Name Sandy's body parts...
Flukes Penduncle Rostrum Blowhole Dorsal Fin Flippers Melon
How to draw a Dolphin. Here's a quick little fun page so you can learn how to draw dolphins for yourself.
Draw your own Dolphin.
Give your Dolphin a name.
Word Scramble PELICAN DOLPHIN KIAWAH BLOWHOLE CALVE FLUKES SANDY BOTTLENOSE
Unscramble the words above in the spaces below
_ LEOBHWLO _ LAIECNP _ HPNDILO _ NSYDA _ TESBNOETOL _ AKHWIA _ LVEAC _ EFKUSEL
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ ___ __ __ _____ _
Can you spot the 8 differences between these two drawings? (Answers on last page)
Sandy's Word Search
Q P B O T T L E N O S E M J S L I C L A M M A M L H O D O L P H I N H P I H C H A W A I K S T E L L U M N L H S C A L V E S E D O S M O H S R A M A R Y H W I U L O F I N S E S R E M S R E O C V D P R L K R A L T N K S E L A H W O O R A S T I C R I V E R S N I N O R A H I P E L I C A N D R O W P S O C I A B L E
DOLPHIN KIAWAH FIN CALVES BLOWHOLE BOTTLENOSE MULLET MARINE ISLAND FIN RIVER SOCIABLE MELON ROSTRUM MARSH HOOK MAMMAL CHIP SMILEY HERON WHALES PELICAN JOHNS ISLAND
Some fun Dolphin Facts... What is the difference between a dolphin and a porpoise? Harbor porpoises are commonly confused with bottlenose dolphins along the U.S. Atlantic coast. However, dolphins and porpoises are different animals and are very different in their morphology. Porpoises are much smaller than bottlenose dolphins, growing 4-5 feet as adults.
How large is a bottlenose dolphin? Adult bottlenose dolphins grow to about 6-12 feet in length and 140-650 kilograms in weight.
Can dolphins talk to each other? Bottlenose dolphins are very vocal animals and make a wide variety of vocalizations; so many, in fact, researchers have not determined what most of the sounds even mean! We do know, however, that whistles are used for communication purposes and echolocation is used for navigating and sensing their environment.
What is echolocation and how does it work? Bottlenose dolphins have a built-in sonar device known as echolocation that is used for sensing their environment. When using echolocation, a bottlenose dolphin emits a sound beam from a fatty tissue at the top of the head, known as the melon. The sound beam travels through the environment and bounces off of an object—say a fish or some sort of obstacle. It then travels back to the dolphin and the dolphin receives the sound through a special type of fat in the lower jaw. This special type of fat is designed to transmit sound waves. The sound travels through the lower jaw to the brain and the dolphin can interpret its environment.
How do dolphins sleep? Bottlenose dolphins sleep differently than any other mammal. Being marine mammals, they are faced with the challenge of breathing air but living in water. Bottlenose dolphins are also voluntary breathers, meaning they must be awake in order to breathe. To solve these challenges, bottlenose dolphins shut down half the brain at a time when sleeping—in other words, half of the brain goes to sleep while the other half stays awake. So, bottlenose dolphins are able to get much needed rest while being conscious to breathe and remain alert to predators.
Answers Word Search Q P B O T T L E N O S E M J S L I C L A M M A M L H O D O L P H I N H P I H C H A W A I K S T E L L U M N L H S C A L V E S E D O S M O H S R A M A R Y H W I U L O F I N S E S R E M S R E O C V D P R L K R A L T N K S E L A H W O O R A S T I C R I V E R S N I N O R A H I P E L I C A N D R O W P S O C I A B L E
Spot the 8 differences 1 - One bird in the sky has moved. 2 - One cloud had disapeared. 3 - The boys shirt has no lines on it. 4 - One fish is facin a different direction. 5 - One dophin fin is facing a different direction. 6 - There is one less person in the boat. 7 - One of the mountains is missing. 8 - There are less leaves on the palm tree.
Did you find them all ?
Written by Colin Cuskley, Meg Parkhurst and Steve Roper. Drawings by Steve Roper. Visit Steve online at www.thesteveropergroup.com. Word games by Sally Cuskley "Sandy" inspired by photo from Jane Lurie.
Copyright 2012, Johns Island Conservancy.
Our dolphins are very important to South Carolina. We hope you've learned a little bit about them and why we should protect them. The Johns Island Conservancy is dedicated to preserving and safeguarding the natural habitat, wildlife, historical and agricultural resources of Johns Island. We pursue this goal through research, education, community networking and conservation action programs. The Johns Island Conservancy is a non-profit 501(c) 3 organization. Donations are tax deductible and gratefully accepted.
Help our mission. Visit our website at www.jicsc.org