The LoneLy DolpHin
Written and illustrated by Sarah Bellis
Silvia
Once, there were two dolphins playing in the sea.
One was the mother, the other was her baby.
“Look Mummy, I caught another one!” Silvia exclaimed.
Her mother laughed, “Good job! Why don’t you try to catch some more?”
“Yes, Mummy,” she replied,
“I’m gonna get you,” said Silvia,
Her mother felt a distinct change in atmosphere, as the ocean had become eerily quiet. Everything was still, aside from a distant, repeated banging.
“Silvia, can you hear that?”
The distant banging came closer and closer…
Her mother arrived at Silvia’s side at once, “Come Silvia, we must get out of here this instant.” get them.”
“There’s no time. We must leave.” her mother’s voice rose in pitch.
“What is that noise? My head hurts! What’s happening, Mummy?” she asked, as she followed her mother.
“Hurry Silvia!” cried her mother as they quickened their pace. But they were too late; they had been surrounded, and the noise was getting louder, and louder.
tapped continuously on long poles that extended far beneath them.
They circled Silvia and her mother as well as a pod of dolphins, creating a wall of sound to prevent any escape.
moment of rest. Their endless tapping hammered into the dolphins’ heads, making them more and more tired,
until they felt like they’d been swimming for hours or even days. Without noticing, the dolphins moved closer and closer to the shore.
Once in shallow waters, dolphin calves were roughly pulled away from their mothers. Families were separated, Silvia and her mother included.
“Mummy, don’t leave me.” Silvia wailed, her heart clenched as she watched her mother being pulled away.
other again.”
Her mother fought hard against the restraining hands, but it was no use.
After separation, Silvia was kept in a small pen with four other young dolphins. Their eyes mirrored her own emotions exactly: complete, utter terror. The small group was separated again, and another dolphin got taken away.
They watched the humans communicate with each other.
What were they planning?
What are they going to do next?
The humans moved Silvia into a dark, damp and smelly truck. She was placed in a small container, with wet towels spread out on top of her.
She breathed in shallow breaths, every rattle of the truck feeling like the heavy footsteps of the trainers that put her there.
Alone and scared, she couldn’t forget the frightened screams of baby dolphins like herself.
She arrived too soon at the Tank and was lowered into the water by humans. She could only think of her lost mother, why was Mummy taken away?
Why isn’t she coming?
Why isn’t Mummy coming back for me?
She was trapped in a life never meant for her: she could no longer currents of the ocean,
and most importantly she would never see her mother again.
Every day, the other dolphins would swim up and down, back and forth, around and around, performing continuously, just for some praise from a human.
The Tank had windows letting visitors the sea. Visitors laughed, screamed and pointed at them.
Their constant tapping on the glass brought Silvia back to the day she was driven inland and separated from her mother.
erehT w as nowhereto go in this con nedplace th e y dellac emoh‘ ’ , ehs maws ldnenisse c i r c lesthat almost droveh e r .enasni
“Why is the dolphin not smiling mummy?”
“Why isn’t your dolphin smiling?”
“I’m not sure.
Dolphin! SMILE!”
The aquarium did not feed her well, she had to beg for food as she beached on the shallow side of the tank.
Late one night, when the sky was crystal clear and the stars danced in the sky, the moon shone his light down onto the tank.
“Silvia?” a small voice whispered to her. The voice was so familiar, it sounded almost like…
“Mummy?” she gasped.
“Silvia, I’m here, open your eyes, let me see you.”
But she didn’t dare to. After so long, she couldn’t believe happened, and she wouldn’t know what to do if it was just a dream.
She peeked from under her eyelids... she saw nothing but the edge of the tank.
“Look up silly, I’m right here.”
Silvia raised her head and there she was.
“Mummy?”
“Come Silvia, I have so much to tell you.”
“Yes, mummy.” she smiled for the
Together they swam off into the rising sunrise.
WannA LearN mOre?
Hi, I’m Silvia!
I am a bottlenose dolphin and I’ve got some interesting facts for you, so keep reading and don’t go just yet!
Dolphins live in open waters, and they can be found all across the globe!
Oceans, as well as the Mediterranean Sea are all home to dolphins.
Echolocation (part one)
Dolphins use echolocation to hunt for food and obtain information about their surroundings. Other marine mammals such as beluga whales, sperm whales and porpoises also use this technique. This family of mammals are part of the Odontoceti whales.
Echolocation is very important for dolphins, especially at night when there is no light for them to see.
Echolocation (part two)
Dolphins produce a series of low and high-frequency sound waves. Once these waves hit an object, an echo will be formed, causing the sound wave to bounce back to the dolphin. This information allows the dolphin to determine how big, and how far away the object is. The longer it takes for the echo to return, the further away the object is.
Dolphins also use whistles and clicks to “talk” to each other, as they are very sociable animals.
Phonic Lips
do not have any vocal cords. Dolphins have two small discs called phonic lips. They slap onto each other when pressure is applied, causing a clicking sound. The sound moves into an organ called the melon, which acts as an acoustic channel that directs the sound out.
Fish move their tail from side to side, but dolphins move their tail up and down.
Fish breathe through gills, while dolphins breathe through the blowhole at the top of their head.
Wave
Melon Sound
LocaL
more commonly as the Pink Dolphin. water, and they are mostly found near west or north-west of Lantau island.
Food: Fish.
fades away. When the dolphins become active, their blood vessels expand - this is known as vasodilation. The blood vessels expand because they are trying to lose heat (similarly, we become red when we are hot). The blood vessels near the skin with red blood colour and the white skin colour!
SpecIes
Finless Porpoise
They are also found in the coastal waters of Bangladesh. because they only come up to the surface for breathing. and are beakless.
More iNforMatiOn
(https://www.dolphinproject.com/) stop dolphin captivity. dolphins from around the world.
You can check out the Dolphin Project website for more information on how to be a better dolphin defender.
Take the pledge
#saynotothedolphinshow on the Dolphin Project website
How Can You Help?
show, try an eco-tour where you can watch wild dolphins in their own habitat from a safe distance!
family what you have read today, and ask them to stop going to dolphin shows!
Thank you for reading!
Please follow @far_draw.phins on Instagram for more information on dolphin captivity and a look into the behind the scenes for this book.
A special thank you to Ms Chauhan, Mrs. Moolchandani, Mr Robson and my dad for all of their help.
e Lonely Dolphin
First published in Hong Kong, 2021 by Gwulo
Text copyright © Sarah Bellis 2021
Illustration copyright © Sarah Bellis 2021
Moral rights asserted
ISBN - 978 9887 82769 6
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the publisher.
