Bottlenose Dolphin Informative Speech
The Bottlenose Dolphin
Specific Purpose: To inform my audience about the bottlenose dolphin species.
Central Idea: Dolphins are unique creatures that possess numerous abilities such as, their intelligence, communication skills, and behavioral patterns.
Introduction
I. Imagine yourself surrounded by a pool of water, but not just any pool of water, the biggest one of all: the ocean. You’re in the ocean attempting to swim, but only this time, instead of moving your arms over your head and your legs up and down, your only moving your lower half, up and down. You swim for a period of time and then suddenly realize your oxygen supply is slowly running out. You swim to the surface and breathe, then your right back at it, swimming with no cares in the world. If you haven’t realized it by now, you’re a bottlenose dolphin.
Body:
I. An ability identified in dolphins is the high level of intelligence that these animals naturally possess.
a. Intelligence is revealed when analyzing their brains.
i. The brain of an adult is about 25% heavier than the average human adult’s brain (Rohan, 2003). ii. Right below humans IQ of 7.4, some dolphins follow with a 5.6 IQ, which is more than double of gorillas, and chimpanzees (Rohan, 2003).
b. Intelligence is also revealed through a dolphin’s mental capacity to comprehend language.
i. A dolphin successfully pushed a paddle signifying “yes” when asked by Louis Herman, “Is the frisbee in the water?” (Wexler, 1994). ii. Funded by the National Science Foundation grant, Louis Herman put two bottlenose dolphins into tanks containing objects.
1. Dolphins had no trouble distinguishing objects based on hand signals or acoustic language. (Wexler, 1994). iii. A dolphin witnessed a tourist smoking through the aquarium glass.
1. The dolphin imitated the action by releasing a mouthful of milk from his mother (Rohan, 2003).
Transition: Now that we have established that Bottlenose Dolphins are highly intelligent, we will now discuss
Specific Purpose: To inform my audience about the bottlenose dolphin species.
Central Idea: Dolphins are unique creatures that possess numerous abilities such as, their intelligence, communication skills, and behavioral patterns.
Introduction
I. Imagine yourself surrounded by a pool of water, but not just any pool of water, the biggest one of all: the ocean. You’re in the ocean attempting to swim, but only this time, instead of moving your arms over your head and your legs up and down, your only moving your lower half, up and down. You swim for a period of time and then suddenly realize your oxygen supply is slowly running out. You swim to the surface and breathe, then your right back at it, swimming with no cares in the world. If you haven’t realized it by now, you’re a bottlenose dolphin.
Body:
I. An ability identified in dolphins is the high level of intelligence that these animals naturally possess.
a. Intelligence is revealed when analyzing their brains.
i. The brain of an adult is about 25% heavier than the average human adult’s brain (Rohan, 2003). ii. Right below humans IQ of 7.4, some dolphins follow with a 5.6 IQ, which is more than double of gorillas, and chimpanzees (Rohan, 2003).
b. Intelligence is also revealed through a dolphin’s mental capacity to comprehend language.
i. A dolphin successfully pushed a paddle signifying “yes” when asked by Louis Herman, “Is the frisbee in the water?” (Wexler, 1994). ii. Funded by the National Science Foundation grant, Louis Herman put two bottlenose dolphins into tanks containing objects.
1. Dolphins had no trouble distinguishing objects based on hand signals or acoustic language. (Wexler, 1994). iii. A dolphin witnessed a tourist smoking through the aquarium glass.
1. The dolphin imitated the action by releasing a mouthful of milk from his mother (Rohan, 2003).
Transition: Now that we have established that Bottlenose Dolphins are highly intelligent, we will now discuss
References: Gero, S., Bejder, H., Whitehead, M., & Connor, R.C. (2005). Behaviorally specific preferred associations in bottlenose dolphins. Canadian Journal of Zoology, 83, 1566-1577. doi: 10.1139/Z05-155. Quick, N. & Janik, V. (2008). Whistle rates of wild bottlenose dolphins (tursiops truncates): Influences of group size and behavior, Journal of Comparative Psychology 122(3), 305-311. doi: 10.1037/0735-7036.122.3.305 Rohan, A. (2003, July 23). Deep thinkers. The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www. guardian. co.uk/Science. Wexler, M. (1994). Thinking about dolphins. National Wildlife (World Edition), 32(3), 1-4.