Dolphin Teach Us To Play!

Since I am in Florida at the moment, close to the Gulf of Mexico, it seems appropriate that I would Blog about dolphins. I, like so many others, love these beautiful creatures of the ocean and one of my favorite songs, Dolphin Teach Us to Play was inspired by a Native American story recounted by Jamie Sams and David Carson in their book Medicine Cards, that teaches the power of dolphins to teach us to be playful and joyful.  I found the entire story written in a Royce Addington’s Blog - Kids love this story.

Dolphins are in the Order Cetacea which includes all whales, dolphins and porpoises. There are approximately 32 species in the family Delphinidae to which the Atlantic Bottlenos dolphin belongs; this is the largest family of cetaceans.

The Atlantic Bottlenose dolphin is the one most commonly found off the coast of North America, and it lives in all the oceans of the world. These smart, fast, animals travel in large groups called "pods" and tend to stay fairly close to the shore. Most of their lives are spent chasing after food and playing games with each other.

Dolphins use echolocation to seek out their food sources, particularly in dark waters; by producing clicking sounds they are able to interpret the information received from the resulting echoes thus determining the location of schools of fish and squid. They do have a good sense of hearing and their ears are small openings located just behind the eyes. Dolphins are mammals and breathe oxygen through their blowhole which is located on the top of their head. They can hold their breath for long periods as they dive into deep water.

Atlantic bottlenose dolphins are not known to be endangered, however others within the species are certainly in trouble. The Chinese river dolphin was pronounced extinct in 2006.

Invite children to illustrate the song, Dolphin teach Us To Play – you can hear it on my MySpace Page or watch a short video on YouTube: 

According to the legend, the children of planet earth were sad and in despair; it was dolphin who was called upon to re-ignite their joy of life. How do dolphins inspire the children? Have any of them ever seen one?

Interconnections! Dolphins are intricately connected to schools of tuna fish, which sadly has caused many of them to be killed. Dolphins swim close to the tuna fish as they are hunting them; often the dolphins will be caught in long, illegal purse-seine nets that are cast by some fishing boats. In order to help protect the nets from being torn, the fishermen kill the dolphins and then discard their bodies into the ocean. You can help to stop these practices by purchasing "dolphin friendly" tuna; the tuna fish cans have a logo on the side that identifies this. Play Rosie's Heart!  to teach kids about dolphins and tuna fish.  Unfortunately sharks are also being targeted by unsustainable practices, but that is something for another blog!

For the earth..

Rosie