Dolphins in danger from hunting in the Pacific Ocean, scientists say By Washington Post, adapted by Newsela staff on 05.21.15 Word Count 452

A Solomon Islands dolphin hunt. Researchers say more than 15,000 dolphins were killed in just one village's hunts between 1976 and 2013. Photo: Omnifilm/Oregon State University

Dolphins in the seas around the Solomon Islands could be in danger. Scientists think the local fishermen are hunting too many of them. The Solomon Islands are in the Pacific Ocean. More than 900 islands make up the nation of the Solomon Islands. Villagers in the islands have many traditions. One of them is hunting dolphins. They hunt dolphins for their meat and teeth. The dolphin teeth are very important to the people of the Solomon Islands. Young men give necklaces of dolphin teeth to their future wives. The meat is also sold for cash.

Jewelry Is Made From Dolphin Teeth Jewelry made of dolphin teeth sells in the markets. Each tooth is worth about 70 U.S. cents. The money is a lot in the Solomon Islands, where people are very poor. Prices have also gone up a lot in recent years. Hunters want to make money and will catch as many dolphins as they can. Scientists are worried that the ecosystem will suffer.

The scientists decided to do a study. They looked at hunt numbers and talked to villagers. They found out the hunts killed large numbers of dolphins. Just one village killed more than 15,000 dolphins between the years 1976 and 2013. That was about 405 dolphins per year. The high prices for teeth are a problem, said Scott Baker. He worked on the study. Higher prices put the dolphins in more danger, he said. The scientists looked at one village where the hunt was popular. The village made a deal in 2010 with an international group. The group paid the village to stop hunting the dolphins.

Hunting Stopped, Then Started Again For a while, the dolphins were safe. Then the deal ended in 2013 and hunting began again. Hundreds of dolphins were killed. Scientists became interested and started a study to figure out the effect of the hunts. More than 1,600 dolphins were killed in only three months. The scientists said the large numbers show that dolphin hunting has to be controlled. An international group is in place to protect large sea mammals, such as whales. Right now, there is no group to protect smaller sea mammals, like dolphins. Baker said dolphin hunting is becoming more popular around the world. Many fishermen have started hunting the marine mammal. They catch the dolphins when they can't find the other fish they used to catch. Sometimes fish populations are low because of pollution or overfishing. Dolphins also sometimes get caught in nets with other fish by accident. This has been a problem for years. Now, though, it seems as if the dolphins are being caught on purpose, Baker said. He said the Solomon Islands could be a warning for other countries.

Quiz 1

In the section "Jewelry Is Made From Dolphin Teeth," which paragraph describes one solution to dolphin hunting?

2

Which sentence from the article gives one reason why dolphins are hunted in the Solomon Islands?

3

(A)

Dolphins in the seas around the Solomon Islands could be in danger.

(B)

Villagers in the islands have many traditions.

(C)

Young men give necklaces of dolphin teeth to their future wives.

(D)

Scientists are worried that the ecosystem will suffer.

Read the sentences from the article.

Villagers in the islands have many traditions. One of them is hunting dolphins. Which is the BEST definition for the word "traditions" as used in the article?

4

(A)

old-fashioned activities

(B)

tools and skills used for hunting

(C)

people who keep the same schedule every day

(D)

ways of living that a community has shared for a long time

Read the final sentence in the article.

He said the Solomon Islands could be a warning for other countries. Which would BEST replace "a warning" in the sentence? (A)

an aid

(B)

an alert

(C)

a threat

(D)

a danger

Answer Key 1

In the section "Jewelry Is Made From Dolphin Teeth," which paragraph describes one solution to dolphin hunting? Paragraph 6: The scientists looked at one village where the hunt was popular. The village made a deal in 2010 with an international group. The group paid the village to stop hunting the dolphins.

2

3

Which sentence from the article gives one reason why dolphins are hunted in the Solomon Islands? (A)

Dolphins in the seas around the Solomon Islands could be in danger.

(B)

Villagers in the islands have many traditions.

(C)

Young men give necklaces of dolphin teeth to their future wives.

(D)

Scientists are worried that the ecosystem will suffer.

Read the sentences from the article.

Villagers in the islands have many traditions. One of them is hunting dolphins. Which is the BEST definition for the word "traditions" as used in the article?

4

(A)

old-fashioned activities

(B)

tools and skills used for hunting

(C)

people who keep the same schedule every day

(D)

ways of living that a community has shared for a long time

Read the final sentence in the article.

He said the Solomon Islands could be a warning for other countries. Which would BEST replace "a warning" in the sentence? (A)

an aid

(B)

an alert

(C)

a threat

(D)

a danger