Sunday, June 5, 2011

Shark or Dolphin?

Did I forget to mention that Peter and the kids saw dorsal fins while at Grand Isle last week?  I did, didn't I?  They had gone out a ways, while I meditated on my next chapter on my Great American Novel (read:  dozed on the beach) when they saw two dorsal fins. 

"Look, Daddy!  Dolphins!"  Squeals a kid.  Who cares which kid? I wasn't there. Peter looks.  He's pretty sure they're dolphins.  Wouldn't it be cool to swim with dolphins, and for free?  Awesomeness.

Then again.

A dorsal fin is a dorsal fin. Was he sure they were dolphins?  What if he reached out to pet the nice cuddly dophins and drew back a bloody stump?  Instead of swimming with the dophins he could be swimming with the fishies.  Maybe it would be a good idea to head back to shore.

Like now.  He gathered his brood of chicks and calmly convinced them to head for shallow water before Jaws wanted dinner. 

They told me this story later, and I proudly proclaimed all my factual knowledge that dolphins have a slightly curved fin, thanks to my Apologia Exploring Creation, Swimming Creatures of the Fifth Day homeschool book learning.  Peter asked if I was positive, and after some deep thought, I decided I wasn't so sure I'd bet the morgue on it, so he looked it up, and as usual, I was right. Go brain.

So folks, now you have it.  Dolphins have a slightly curved fin, and as a bonus they are more likely to travel in groups, where sharks don't like to compete for their tourists.

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