Dolphins Around Britain

Two Bottle-nose Dolphins photographed by Vicki Murdoch

Dolphins are small whales with teeth. Some people think that they are as intelligent as we are, and men and dolphins have been friends for a very long time. Tjhere are lots of stories of dolphins playing in the waves before a speeding ship, and saving sailors from drowning.

Dolphins have a built-in sonar system that allows them to "see" in the dark to find their way and food. In their head is a melon - a fatty area that sends out clicks that will bounce back when they hit something. These echoes tell the dolphin where an object is, how large it is, how large it's moving and how dense it is - rather like bat's sonar system.

Dolphins feed on fish - a habit that sometimes makes them unpopular with fishermen. They have about 100 sharp teeth in a long snout, called a beak. The shape of that beak gives many species a "smile", which adds to the attraction that they have for man. Unlike most other mammals, they don't need to drink, all of the water that they need is found in the bodies of the fish and squid that they eat. Like all toothed whales, dolphins and porpoises have just one blowhole

Dolphins live in family groups called herds, with babies staying with their mothers for many years, learning to fish and stay safe from sharks.

Look out for both Bottle-nosed and Common dolphins around British shores at any time of the year. They are most commonly seen ariound the South and West coasts, and sometimes come into the sheltered waters of bays or estuaries. You will still be very lucky if you spot one though!

There is Just One Ocean on Our Planet

There There is Just one ocean on our planet.

All of the cleaning chemicals that you use in your house end up in it.

That means that my baby eats "Superclean toilet" flavoured fish.

And so does yours.

There is Just One Ocean on our planet.

All of the pesticides sprayed in field or garden end up in it.

That is why my baby eats fish containing DDT, 20 years after it’s ban.

And so could yours.

There is Just One Ocean on our planet.

All of the rubbish in landfill rots slowly down and dissolves into it.

That means it will poison my unborn relatives, a million years from now.

And also yours.

There is Just One Ocean on our planet.

Every coke can, crisp packet ‘dropped’ on the beach floats off in it.

A snare for every curious creature that looks inside it for food.

Don’t ‘drop’ yours.

There is Just One Ocean on our planet.

The rubbish that goes into it at one side of our big wide world

Can kill me in a multitude of different ways, even if I live on the other.

Be sure it’s not yours.

There is Just One Ocean on our planet.

Man is using it as a bottomless pit to hide all his sins beneath.

Toxic. Nuclear. Anything. Won’t you care that it’s killing my baby…

Until it kills yours?

Poem written by Simon Frogley, then aged 15 years.

Almost three quarters of the world is covered by oceans and seas, but although we think of there being five main oceans, it must be remembered that they are not separate - they all join to make one great ocean. So... whatever happens in one part of that ocean, sooner or later, has impact on the rest of it.

February 2007

If you've been outside enjoying the sunshine this February, perhaps you can remember what the weather was like last February? It was a little different - as you can see from this photograph taken a year ago!

WATER - Bottled or Tap?

Do you moan when your parents tell you to drink water from the tap? If so, then you need to read this!

Every year the British spend nearly 2 BILLION pounds on bottled water - even though they could get some that is just as healthy out of the tap! In shops, water often costs more than pure orange juice or milk! Which would you rather have?

Most important of all though, every time you open a bottle of water you are adding to the problems on our planet caused by plastic. It takes a lot of energy to make plastic, and if we recycle it, then it takes a lot of energy to collect it, clean and melt it, and then make it in to something else. I'm sure that you recycle YOUR bottles, but many people DON'T. Plastic bottles that get sent to landfill with the rubbish take 450 years to break down!

So now you have some good reasons to tell your family and friends not to buy bottled water!

Be A Nature Investigator - Plants

You might look around and think that there isn't much nature to be seen during February - but look again, a little harder this time! The grass is barely growing, the hedgerows and trees are without their covering of leaves. Now is the time for you to look around, and see things that will soon be hidden by new spring growth. Find yourself a patch of ground to investigate. It might be a patch of your garden, or the verge of a quiet road. NEVER wander off to investigate an area without an adult being with you, unless they have given permission!

Looks for things that are happening or visible NOW. You could keep a nature diary, and use it through the year, or take notes.

Look first to see what plants you can see growing. Of course there will be evergreen plants, like holly and ivy, which are green all year. But look for plants that die down in the winter. Which are the first to begin growing again this spring? The stinging nettle is usually one of the first, so be careful! Here is one that I found on February 14th - the bright, warm weather had made it sprout very quickly.

The Hottest February 12th Ever!

Hasn't the weather been lovely and sunny? This year, February 12th was hotter than it has been since people first recorded temperature. It reached 18'C in some parts of Britain, which is hotter than it often is in the summer!

You can record the highest and lowest temperature of each day by using a maximum and minimum thermometer. It might have been nice and warm in the daytime on the 12th, just as it is today, but because the sky is so lovely and clear, without a cloud to be seen, the night time is very cold indeed. Usually heat rises, but clouds, made from timy droplets of water, insulate the earth, by trapping the heat that the sun has made during the day. When there are no clouds, the sun's heat will rise in to the sky as soon as the sun sets, there are no clouds to keep it close to earth. This means that cloudy nights are usually warmer than clear ones.

Scientists think that our climate is changing - not just in Britain, but all over the world. Our warm February could be a sign that the world is getting just a little bit warmer.

Tiny Dinosaur Discovered!

A very tiny winged dinosaur has been discovered in China. It is a pterosaur, and although it has less than 30 cm wingspan, it is related to a family of dinosaurs that are as large as a small plane! It's largest relative has a 1o metre wingspan, and is the largest flying creature ever known.

Fossils of tiny dinosaurs have been found at other times, but they have always turned out to be hatchlings (newly hatched) that would have grown into large animals if they had lived. This one, however, is young, but fully grown. This new type of dinosaur has been called Nemicolopterus crypticus, which means "hidden flying creature of the forest", and the complete, fossilised skeleton is over 120 million years old. It has curved claws, which would have been used to perch on branches, and scientists believe that it lived in the middle canopy of the forest.

It was much too small to ever be scary enough to star in Jurassic Park, but this one and only Nemicolopterus crypticusit is still a very exciting find!

HOW TO HELP WILDLIFE - Your Ideas Needed!

There are lots of things you can do to help wildlife! How many can you think of?
Why not send just one in to Simon, on an email. You can email him using this link: mailto:webmaster@youngnaturelovers.co.uk. The best ideas will be printed on the Young Nature Lovers website at http://www.youngnaturelovers.co.uk/, with your first name and age!