Hi there, my name is Dipper the Dolphin and I love to play.
Now I know you will have been having fun with Manny but this term it will be even more exciting. Dolphins make everyone smile and I just know you are going to be doing a lot of smiling this term with all I have in store for you. Are you ready to use a snorkel and breathe underwater? As well as that we are going to have fun with "Pencil and Tuck" jumps and see the world upside down when we do a handstand!
Let me tell you a little bit more …
We have a lot of new exciting skills to show you this term where stroke work is developed and we learn breaststroke arms and legs together and a brief introduction to sideways breathing in front crawl.
We have more fun based skills, for example Somersaults (backwards this time) great for breathing control, handstands and "Pencil & Tuck" jumps that are fabulous confidence building exercises. On our Snorkeling and under water scooter day we will concentrate on streamlining as well as introducing your child to snorkels so that they can "breathe" underwater! At the end of Level 17, we aim for everyone to swim 20 metres, some can do 25 metres or even 50 metres.
I am a Bottlenose Dolphin and I live with my Mummy in a big group of Dolphins called a Pod. You may have seen a Dolphin in the wild before as we live in the Oceans all across the world providing the water is not too chilly. We have blubber, which keeps us warm and helps us stay streamlined in the water just like Sally the Sea Lion does and like you in a wetsuit.
When I grow up I may be as long as 4 metres so I am making sure I eat all my fish to get big and strong. My favourite fish to eat are Tuna, mackerel and squid. Whilst I am still young, I have to work hard to keep up with Mum's swimming, so I stay close and travel in her slip stream at times to save energy.
Now one of the really interesting things about my family and me is all the different noises we make to talk to each other. We make all sorts of different clicks and squeaks with the very high pitched ones acting as a Sonar system called Echolocation. We locate objects by producing sounds and listening for the echos. This helps us explore where we are going and tells us lots of information about things that we may be swimming towards. We also have really good eyesight, whether we are swimming underwater or jumping and splashing in the air. Although we don't have a very good sense of smell!
Ever wondered what my Dorsal Fin was for (that's the one on my back). Well it helps me balance so I don't roll about too much in the water. You used to use foam floats to do that but now you are such strong swimmers you can use your balance to do all sorts of resting floats and fun activities!
Next term, you will be meeting Nelly The Narwhal