Dolphin+Island+Project

  =**Welcome to our Dolphin Island!**    =

=  Plunge into the great adventures   = = of an aquatic park!  = = =

multinational corporation
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 * <span style="COLOR: #d200ff; FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"> discover 30 different endangered species including <span style="COLOR: #d200ff; FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive">dolphins, sharks, killer whales, penguins
 * <span style="COLOR: #d200ff; FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"> Nurture them, heal them, clean their pools ..... and learn about their habits and behaviour
 * <span style="COLOR: #d200ff; FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"> Train them to perform in dazzling shows. earn credits to improve your marine park and rescue more animals.

= DOLPHINS =

It is difficult to estimate population numbers since there are many different species spanning a large geographic area. Dolphins are part of the toothed whale family including the Orca and the whale. Dolphins are well known for their agility and playful behaviour,making them a favourite of wild life watchers. Dolphins live in social groups of 5 to several hundred. The Amazonian Dolphinis the smallest of the dolphin species at five feet in lenght, it weighs 100lbs The largest dolphin species is the orca. Dolphin use echolocation to hunt & navigate through cloudy waters, they emit a series of high-pitched sound pulses ,which bounce off prey or obstacles, enabling dolphins to locate them.

By Latika, Lilly & Katherine

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**<span style="COLOR: #5cfaba; FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive">Sharks **
Some sharks have special eyelids called nictitaing memberanes.These close when the shark is about to bite, to protect their eyes from being damaged. Sharks are the best hunters in the ocean.They have strong senses that help them hunt and travel great distances. Its thought that almost one third of a sharks brain is devoted to detecting smell sensory pore on the sharks head. Sharks ears are inside their heads. It is believed that sharks can hear over a distance, 250 metres, & detect sounds in the freequency of 25 - 100Hz

By Lilly

**__ Electric Ray __** **Intelligence** Electric rays have a high ratio of brain weight to body weight; they are probably very intelligent, even smarter than sharks. They are known to be very curious animals, often approaching the diver and simply observing the intruder. ** Habitat ** Electric rays live in tropical oceans and seas all over the world, and some even spend part of their life in estuaries. Electric rays live on or mostly near the sea bed. Different ray species are found in habitats ranging from close to shore to the extreme depths of the ocean (over 10,000 feet = 3,000 m deep). ** Diet and Hunting ** Electric rays vary their diets, but they are carnivores. They eat fish, crustaceans, molluscs and worms. Electric rays mostly hunt near the bottom of the ocean. ** Swimming ** Electric rays swim very differently than other fish. They are propelled through water with their powerful, wing-like pectoral fins which ripple and flap. Their large pectoral fins also let them glide through the water. Some rays (like the Mangrove stingray) can even jump above the water. Many species of rays are coated with a slimy mucous which reduces the surface tension and drag of the water and increases swimming speed. Like sharks, rays lack a swim bladder and use their oily liver to maintain buoyancy (other fish use an air-filled bladder to help them float). When a ray stops swimming, it sinks down to the sea bed. ** Ray defences ** Electric rays defend themselves from predators using electrical shocks (up to 200 volts). Other rays use a whip-like tail to lacerate an enemy, some sting enemies with a poisonous stinging tail. Some have hard, bony spines that puncture their victims. Teeth are not used very much by rays as a defence, although some can bite. Camouflage on the sea bed is probably among their best defences. Rays do not normally attack people. There are some rays that have a tail sting which can be deadly. ** Skeleton ** Rays are a type of fish that have no bones, only cartilage. Some parts of their skeleton, like their vertebrae, are calcified. Cartilage, a strong fibrous substance, is softer than bone; our nose and ears are made of cartilage. Even the ray’s skull is flattened. Rays belong to the group of fishes called Elasmobranchii, which also includes the sharks, skates, and ratfish. The Elasmobranchii are all fish that have no bones, only cartilage. By Justin

** __Great White Shark__ ** ** By Justin Whiting ** ** Habitat ** Great white sharks live in all the world’s oceans. They are found mainly along the coast in cool waters, and, very rarely, in warm, tropical seas. Around Australia great white sharks are most common along the south coast. But they have been seen as far north as Broom in Western Australia and Hervey Bay in Queensland. ** Hunting ** A great white shark usually moves at a constant, cruising speed of about three kilometres an hour. This is about as fast as a slow walk. Its very strong sense of smell helps the shark track its prey from many kilometres away. ** Attacking ** Great white sharks attack in short, sharp bursts of speed. As they close in on their prey, they use their eyesight. They grab their prey in their mouths and bite hard to kill. Great white sharks can also detect the electricity produced by the prey’s muscles enabling them to hunt in darkness. ** Diet ** Some sharks are fast moving predators. They catch and eat prey such as fish, squid, seals and even other sharks. Fast-moving sharks include great whites. Great white sharks mainly hunt seals using surprise attacks. ** Skeleton ** Unlike most other fish, sharks have skeletons of cartilage rather than bone. Cartilage is lighter and softer than bone. The part of your nose that you can bend has cartilage in it. And unlike most other fish, sharks absorb oxygen underwater using gills. All sharks are carnivorous, which means that they eat other animals. ** Swimming ** A shark must keep swimming or it will sink. Some species, such as the great white shark, push themselves through the water using the force of their powerful tails. Other sharks. Thrust their bodies from side to side to propel themselves through the water. Their large fins help them to balance while swimming. ** Teeth ** The Great white shark has about 3000 teeth in its huge mouth. Every time a shark catches prey it loses a few teeth. These are quickly replaced by new ones. A shark’s jaws are only loosely connected to its skull, so it can open its mouth extremely wide to swallow large prey. All sharks have several rows of teeth, but most use only their front row when feeding.

**__ Bottlenose dolphin __** By Justin Whiting ** Appearance ** Bottlenose dolphins grow to around three metres. They have streamlined bodies, one blow-hole and beak-shaped mouths with around eighty sharp teeth. Their dorsal fins are tall, and they have powerful tails. ** Habitat ** Two types of bottlenose dolphins are found all around the Australian coastline. One type lives in the open ocean, and is dark grey or black. It lives in groups, called pods, of between ten and one hundred animals. The other type is small and light grey. It lives close to the shore in pods of around ten animals. ** Food ** Bottlenose dolphins usually hunt in pods, circling and confusing schools of fish before they dart in to feed. Sometimes they hunt alone, searching for squid and crabs. They find their prey by sight, and by bouncing sound off objects, then listening for an echo. This is called echolocation. ** Movement ** The bottlenose dolphin’s streamlined shape and powerful tail make it one of the fastest animals in the ocean. It can swim at more than 45 kilometres per hour. Sometimes, bottlenose leap clear of the water, perhaps to avoid predators, communicate with other dolphins or simply for enjoyment. ** Reproduction ** Bottlenose dolphins breed and give birth in the water. Each mother has a single baby called a calf. The calf stays with its mother for four years, feeding on her milk and learning to hunt. Female bottlenose dolphins give birth to a calf every two to three years.