Dolphins!

Right now I am in the Bahamas with my family and I am having the most amazing vacation here. Yesterday I went to a place called Dolphin Cay here at our hotel and it was so cool. Here is what happened:

First we signed up for a close up meeting with a dolphin and then we changed into wet suits and headed in for our dolphin orientation. During the orientation we learned a lot about dolphins. Here are some of the main things that I learned about dolphins:

1. Dolphins are mammals.
2. They move their tails up and down, unlike sharks who move their tails side to side.
3. Dolphins can stay underwater for up to 15 minutes but cannot breath underwater.
4. Dolphins cannot go into a full sleep because they need to be conscious to breathe so they only let one half of their brain sleep at a time!
5. The dorsal fin is as unique as a person's face.
6. They swallow fish whole.
7. Dolphins can jump as high as 20 feet out of the water.
8. They can swim up to 25 miles per hour.
9. The average age that they live to in the wild is about 17 years but they can live up to 50 years.
10. Dolphins like to have their chins tickled. I got to do this and the dolphin laughed.

The dolphin that I got to meet was named Kelly. She was 37 years old and had was a mother to 3 babies. She had been rescued after she was let out to sea during Hurricane Katrina. She was brought to the Bahamas with a bunch of other dolphins where she lives now.  Kelly was really good at jumping very high in the air. I got to give her a kiss and hold her in the water which was awesome. I got to rub her belly and tickle her under her chin and when I did when made sounds like she laughing. Kelly could also wave her dorsal fins to say hello.

We are leaving the Bahamas tomorrow to go to Orlando. We are going to Disney World! I will post again when I get back.

M.