It’s Feeding Time for Dolphins

By: Melissa Smith

            It was a hot day off the coast of Florida and Squeaky the bottlenose dolphin was getting very hungry. He had been swimming with his group of friends all day long in the clear blue ocean and had built up an enormous appetite. Squeaky was a younger dolphin who liked to play games in the water with his friends, but when it was time to eat he always had to swim circles with his mother. His mom was known for her circling skills. She could round up a large group of fish for dinner with the help of her friends in just a few minutes. That’s how she got the name Speedy. She was always quick and wise to make circles around the fish so they couldn’t escape. She had lots of experience.

The sun was beginning to set and that meant it was time to start looking for dinner. Squeaky decided he didn’t want to swim circles with his mother this day. He was feeling pretty confident that he could round up a large group of fish by himself. So, being the foolish and stubborn young dolphin that he was, Squeaky stayed behind the pack of other dolphins and started making circles around a small group of fish.

Squeaky’s mother, on the other hand was far ahead of her son and began to make huge circles around many different kinds of fish. Her other dolphin friends helped her out because they knew if they wanted to eat good tonight, then they had to swim with Speedy too. She was a pro at this sort of thing.

So, while Speedy and the rest of the dolphin team worked together to gather dinner, Squeaky was getting very tired making circles around his fish. Since he was the only dolphin making circles it was hard to keep the fish together. He was becoming frustrated and disappointed in himself. He thought he’d be able to do it all by himself, but his confidence was quickly dropping. Therefore, Squeaky’s dinner wasn’t looking too rewarding.

Speedy noticed her son working way too hard for his dinner when he should’ve been swimming with the group. She made some squeaks and whistles in order to gain his attention. He responded with a few jaw snaps. Often, this is how the dolphins talked to each other to let each other know food was nearby.

Squeaky left his small group of fish and joined the school of dolphins circling a massive amount of fish. Squeaky started to drool at the site of all these fish. He became very helpful and worked really hard so everyone could eat together. On a good day when everyone is working as a group to find dinner, the dolphins could each chow down about 15-30 pounds of fish each. Squeaky kept this in mind as he was swimming around the fish.

Soon enough the dolphins had made a circle around enough fish for everyone to eat. Squeaky stuffed himself full of all different sorts of colored fish and was grateful that his mother called him over earlier.

 Together Everyone Achieves More