How are Dolphins and Porpoises different

Most people are fascinated with dolphins and porpoises. Humans think they're the same.

Actually dolphins and porpoises are very different in many ways.   It is very hard to tell they're difference if you haven't seen them up close.  It's because  Porpoises are part of the scientific family Phocoenidae, and dolphins are part of the Delphinidae family.  Dolphins can be 10 feet long (or they can be longer!), porpoises are not so often longer than 7 feet. Dolphins also tend to be leaner and sleeker, while porpoises are more compact and often look chubby in comparison.

Dolphins usually have birdbeak-like pointed snouts, while porpoises have blunt, rounded noses like pigs. Porpoises have fins, like a shark. Unlike porpoises, dolphins have dorsal fins that are more curved like an ocean wave.

The teeth of the two animals is the easiest way to tell them apart. Porpoise teeth are flat and rectangular. Dolphin teeth are sharp and cone-shaped.

While the physical differences between dolphins and porpoises are small, the differences in the way they behave are more obvious. Dolphins travel  in large groups and show little fear of humans. Dolphins are outgoing and will often interact with humans and even swim alongside boats.

Porpoises don't travel in big groups they travel in pods of two to four and are quite scared of humans. They almost never come up to boats of people. In fact, you barely see them at the top of the water unless they’re coming up to breathe. If you have ever seen an animal at a marine show, it will most likely to be a dolphin, not a porpoise.

The life expectancy of both mammals are very different. While most porpoises only live 15 to 20 years, dolphins can live up to 50 years or more. Scientists believe this difference may be caused by the fact that porpoises reproduce faster than dolphins and it takes a toll on their bodies.

One last difference about these creatures are that dolphins produce sounds that humans can hear. They share  many characteristics and  they look very similar. For example, both sea creatures are mammals. Although both mammals live in the ocean, niether of them are fish. Like all mammals, they have lungs instead of gills, so they breathe air. They also give birth and nurse them after they’re born.Porpoises and dolphins are both members of the same scientific order, Cetacea. Cetacea includes all whales, which are relatives of dolphins and porpoises. Dolphins and Porpoises are both beautiful creatures of the deep!

                                                       Words

Dolphin-Aquatic mammal

                                                       Porpoises- Aquatic mammal

Characteristics- Genes that make up a noun

                                                        Family- A group of people that are related

Gills- Breathing lines that aquatic things need an order to survive.

                                                         Lungs- Organs that you to breath.

Similar- Almost the same but not excactly