The Spinner Dolphin has a lot of characteristics, and one of them is that it has a long and narrow beak , that's why one of their nicknames is the long beaked dolphin . Also, it got it's name because when it jumps out of the water it spins like a top . This dolphin can do this because of the fact that the Spinner dolphin is shaped like a football . The Spinner dolphins are mostly dark gray and have a lighter color on the bottom ,like a whitish color . Also, these dolphins have a dark tipped beak , and black lips . The Spinner dolphins ,when born, are usually around 28-34 inches long, and the adult Spinner dolphin is usually 4-7 feet long and weighs 100-165 pounds .



The Spinner dolphins usually mate in Spring , and it takes 12 months for a baby calf to be born . When the Spinner dolphin gives birth to a calf it pushes the calf up to the surface, because if the baby dolphin swallows a spoonful of water it will drown . After the baby dolphin is born there is already a member of its school (which contains 5-200 dolphins) ready to help the mother take care of the calf . A "calf "as you can see is another name to call a baby dolphin. A "bull" is another name to call a male dolphin , and a "cow" is another name to call a female dolphin .

In a pod (another name for a school of dolphins) there is one hunter , that makes clicking sounds as it listens for fish and can hear better than the other dolphins . Also, in a school of dolphins you have a fighter that is always in the lookout for sharks and ready to fight . Spinner dolphins also help each other out . For example, if a dolphin gets sick and can't come up to the water to get air , the dolphins get underneath the sick dolphin and tries to push it up to the water so it can get air . These dolphins can only hold their breaths for up to ten minutes . Also , if a dolphin swims into shallow water it can find itself stranded on the beach .You might wonder do dolphins ever sleep? Well they do sleep , but not for long periods of time like humans. The Spinner dolphin makes a whistling noise when communicating with other dolphins and when they get excited .

Dolphins eat mostly fish and squid . The kinds of fish they eat are Marco , herring , sardines , shrimp , and crustaceans . The Spinner dolphin eats about 66 pounds of food every day . The Spinner dolphin is very good in catching its prey even when it's dark . Well, they do this by a process called echolocation , where a dolphin sends a sound , then that sound hits a fish or anything else around the water . After that sound has hit something an echo comes back to the dolphin so it could catch its food for the day .

Link:

Spinner Dolphin - WWW.nsrl.ttu.edu/tmot/stenlong.htm

This web page written by Rebekah C., as part of the 1999 Galveston Bay Project for Girls.

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