How to Save Two Dolphins

vocabulary, close reading, main idea, cause and effect, text evidence, inference, explanatory writing

Through the story of two mistreated dolphins, the article provides information about the dangers that dolphins face and how one man has helped them.

The text is nonlinear; it includes cause-and-effect structures and narrative and informational passages.

The article includes challenging academic and domain-specific vocabulary (e.g., slaughtered,deceptive, and captive).

The text refers to several locations; map-reading skills and some knowledge of geography will be helpful.

• As a class, look at pages 4 and 5. Read aloud the large text. Ask students: What questions do these lines make you ask yourselves? (Answers might include “Why are the dolphins threatened?” and “What does Hardy Jones do to rescue them?”)
• Call on a volunteer to read aloud the Up Close box for the class.
  
• Distribute our text features activity. Have students pair up to complete it.
  

• Distribute our vocabulary activity to introduce challenging words from the article
• Highlighted words: stabilize, toxic, hoisted, slathered, doted, entangled, slaughtered, outcry, deceptive, captive
  

• Ask students to read the article in small groups, pausing to discuss parts they find surprising, interesting, or confusing. 
• Have them stay in groups to answer the closereading questions and the critical-thinking question.

Close-Reading Questions

•  What problem is presented in the first paragraph of the article? What other details do you learn about this problem in the first section? (problem and solution) The first paragraph explains that two dolphins were left to die in a filthy tank in Nicaragua. They were abandoned by two men who had hoped to sell them to a resort. The rest of the section describes the terrible condition the dolphins were in and the risks of moving them back to the Caribbean Sea, where they had been captured.
• Reread the last sentence in the first section. Why did Jones want the world to know the dolphins’ story? (main idea) Jones loves dolphins. He wanted the world to know how Nica and Blue Fields had been mistreated so people could band together and demand an end to the cruel treatment of dolphins.
  
• In the section “An Extraordinary Bond,” what did Jones notice about dolphins in the 1970s? How did his experience affect him? (cause and effect) Jones noticed that the dolphins he swam with were intelligent and cared for each other. They seemed to communicate with each other. His experience prompted him to leave his job and devote himself to protecting dolphins.
  
• Reread the section “6 Million Dead.” How did tuna fishing hurt dolphins? How did Jones help solve this problem? (problem and solution) Dolphins swim above tuna in the ocean, so nets meant for tuna ended up catching dolphins too. The dolphins suffocated. Jones made a film about this problem; many people saw it, protested to tuna companies, and stopped buying tuna. The companies changed their fishing practices to protect dolphins.
  
• The section “100 Miles a Day” says that photos of happy people and dolphins at “swimwith- dolphins” resorts are deceptive. Why? (text evidence) Dolphins look happy because they appear to be smiling. But their mouths turn up naturally, so they look happy even if they’re miserable or dead.
  
• What evidence in the article supports the idea that captivity is unhealthy for dolphins? (text evidence) The article explains that in the wild, dolphins swim up to 100 miles a day and form friendships that can last decades. Captivity limits the amount dolphins can swim and takes them away from their pods; 53 percent die within three months of capture.
• Jones’s film about Nica and Blue Fields has been seen by millions of people. What effect do you think it could have? (inference) Answers will vary. Students might say that people will protest and stop going to “swim-with-dolphins” programs.
  

Critical-Thinking Question

• Many people had to come together to save Nica and Blue Fields. Who was involved in this effort and what role did each person or group play? (problem and solution) WSPA scientists and the Nicaraguan military helped save the dolphins. The scientists and soldiers worked together to lift the dolphins out of a toxic pool and transport them by boat and helicopter back to the Caribbean Sea. Jones filmed the operation so millions of people could see the danger dolphins like Nica and Blue Fields face.
  

• Show the video “Can a Pictue Change the World?” which introduces iconic photographs and explains the effects they have had on society.
• Project or distribute our video activity and complete it as a class.
  

• Distribute our problem-andsolution activity, and have students complete it in small groups. Assign the writing prompt on page 9 for homework.