Kids Want to Know....

Over the past few weeks, I have received a lot of email from kids of all ages, asking questions about dolphins. I try to answer all the questions that come to me in email. Sometimes I get the same question more then once and I realized that there are a lot of kids out there with questions.

So, I've decided to answer these questions here, at the Suite 101 Dolphin site. The questions you see here are real questions, asked by real kids of all ages. If YOU have a question that you would like answered, and would like to see your question used here, send me an email and we'll see what we can do. Over the next few weeks (or maybe months, depending upon how many questions are received), the articles normally seen here will be postponed as I offer my attention to these fun, inquisitive kids.

Our first question comes from Alyson, age 9. Alyson asks, "Is a Killer Whale really a type of dolphin?"

Well Alyson, this is a very good question. From their name you would think that a "Killer Whale" is a whale, right? But they're not.

Killer Whales - whose real name is "Orca" - belongs to the same family of mammals as dolphins. Just as the apes and humans are very closely related, and belong to the same family, so are the Killer Whale and the dolphin.

There are over 80 different types (species) of dolphins known today. All of these types belong to the type of mammal called "cetaceans." Scientists have taken mammals belonging to the cetacean family and put them into different groups. Depending upon what the mammal looks like, acts like, and behaves like will tell the scientists what group the mammal belongs to.

For example, Killer Whales (like the one in the movie "Free Willy"), and bottlenose Dolphins (like the one in the movie "Flipper"), both have teeth, eat fish and squid, play by jumping out of the water, splashing, and chasing each other, have a dorsal fin (the one on their back) that is different for each mammal, have a large tail fin to help them swim, and speak by making noises of whistles, clicks, and squeaks. So, because they act alike, look alike, and behave alike, the Killer Whale and Bottlenose Dolphin belong to the same family.

Think of it like this; you have cousins who look like you and come from the same family, but they may not have the same last name as you, but that doesn't mean that you aren't still related, right? Well, the same is true for the Killer Whale and the other species of dolphins. They are all related, all considered dolphins, but just aren't all called "dolphins."

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