Spinner Dolphin Rising Out of the Water Coloring Page

A spinner dolphin comes up nose first, most of its slim body already clear of the surface, with a scatter of small bubbles and a few loose ripple lines where it broke through. Its dorsal fin stands upright and roughly triangular, and its beak is noticeably slimmer than a bottlenose, which is exactly how the two species differ on the page.

The drawing catches the start of the move rather than the middle of it. A spinner builds rotation below the surface and then keeps turning on its own long axis in the air, and individuals have been recorded finishing about seven full rotations before they land.

Very little line work sits inside the body, so this one lives or dies on the water. Keep the ripples pale blue or leave them white, and put your strongest tone along the back so the animal separates from the surface behind it.

Spinners are small as dolphins go, around six feet, and they travel in groups that can run to several hundred. Ages eight and up.