Speaker 1: Welcome to Snuggle Cozy Stories for kids. This episode is
Speaker 1: called Sleep Like a Dolphin. Snuggle is a production of
Speaker 1: Slumber Studios. Support the show, listen ad free and get
Speaker 1: exclusive access to monthly bonus episodes by joining Snuggle Premium.
Speaker 1: Check the episode description to find out more and sign
Speaker 1: up today. Hey friend, my name is Tom, and it
Speaker 1: is my pleasure to have you join me here for
Speaker 1: story time. Whether it's for a nap, for bedtime, or
Speaker 1: just for fun, it really is one of my favorite
Speaker 1: parts of the day, and I hope that's the case
Speaker 1: for you too. Our friend Kristen will be reading this
Speaker 1: one where you're going to imagine yourself as a graceful
Speaker 1: bottlenosed dolphin gliding through the ocean. Your smooth, sleek body
Speaker 1: has taken you on quite a journey today. You've powered
Speaker 1: across many miles of sea with all the other playful
Speaker 1: dolphins in your family, and now it's time to relax
Speaker 1: for the night. So let's get ready for our sleepy adventure.
Speaker 1: Make sure you're comfortable and close your eyes. Then imagine
Speaker 1: yourself slowly transforming into a dolphin. Let's swim down into
Speaker 1: the ocean and see where your next resting place will be.
Speaker 2: Your smooth gray skin is perfect for swimming long distances,
Speaker 2: and the large dorsal fin on your back helps you
Speaker 2: cut through the waves and strong ocean currents. Instead of
Speaker 2: arms and legs, you have two short flippers and a
Speaker 2: very powerful tail. You live in a pod which can
Speaker 2: have up to thirty dolphins. It is like a protective
Speaker 2: family that travels together, eating, playing, and chattering NonStop across
Speaker 2: the ocean from sunrise to sunset. Your pod lives in
Speaker 2: a vast underwater world. Imagine yourself exploring it now. This
Speaker 2: magical place full of flowing ocean plants which sway with
Speaker 2: the currents, Tangled seaweed waves its long leafy arms, while
Speaker 2: sea creatures of all shapes, sizes, and colors glide in
Speaker 2: every direction. During the daytime, the sun's sparkling rays burst
Speaker 2: through the water's surface, creating the most brilliant shimmering light beams.
Speaker 2: It's quiet here, with gentle swooshing sounds that are very calming.
Speaker 2: This is such a beautiful place to live, with schools
Speaker 2: of glistening silver fish making their journey past delicate sea stars.
Speaker 2: If you look carefully, you can see prancing seahorses and
Speaker 2: jellyfish dancing among the coral and ocean rocks below them.
Speaker 2: On the sandy seafloor, giant clam create beautiful pearls while
Speaker 2: crabs and lobsters scuttle around them. Notice how a tiny
Speaker 2: pufferfish gets surprised and expands his body to look larger.
Speaker 2: Imagine how funny it would be if people could do that.
Speaker 2: Since you are a mammal, like a human, you have
Speaker 2: to breathe there, so you have to get to the
Speaker 2: ocean's surface whenever you need some oxygen, which can be
Speaker 2: tricky when it's time to sleep. As a dolphin, you're
Speaker 2: a voluntary breather. That means you have to think about
Speaker 2: when to breathe. Humans don't have to think about breathing,
Speaker 2: they just do it naturally. But like humans, you need
Speaker 2: about eight hours of RESTful sleep per night. What is
Speaker 2: amazing is that your brain is able to switch off
Speaker 2: one side at a time, so you can continue swimming
Speaker 2: to the surface for air even when you're asleep. When
Speaker 2: the left half of your brain is awake, your right
Speaker 2: eye can stay open to keep watch. After about four hours,
Speaker 2: the right half of your brain will wake up, so
Speaker 2: the left half can get the sleep it needs. Imagine
Speaker 2: how relaxing it must feel to slowly drift through the
Speaker 2: water while you remain in this calm state. Now, let's
Speaker 2: go up to the surface. You have a tiny blow
Speaker 2: hole on top of your head which takes air into
Speaker 2: your lungs and then releases it in a puff that
Speaker 2: shoots out above the surface of the water. Try breathing
Speaker 2: in deeply now using your blowhole. Feel the cool, salty
Speaker 2: sea air, fill up your lungs, and breathe it all
Speaker 2: out with a great big puff. Your body is very smooth,
Speaker 2: and your strong tail muscles can propel you over twenty
Speaker 2: miles in an hour. Even the fastest human swimmers can
Speaker 2: only swim about four miles in an hour. This means
Speaker 2: that you and your dolphin friends can swim five times
Speaker 2: faster than humans. Sometimes your friends try to race faster
Speaker 2: than you to get to the best food. This can
Speaker 2: be a fun challenge to see how fast you can
Speaker 2: swim Along the way. You talk back and forth using
Speaker 2: patterns of clicks, whistles, and squeals in the water. These
Speaker 2: sounds echo for long distances, so if you get too
Speaker 2: far away from your pod, you can still hear the
Speaker 2: other dolphins calling out to you, and you can find
Speaker 2: each other in no time. One of the best things
Speaker 2: about being a dolphin is having the freedom to swim
Speaker 2: through the ocean all day long. Gliding from one coral
Speaker 2: reef to another, you pass by brightly colored anemonies, which
Speaker 2: are shaped like fluffy palm palms. Sometimes you plunge down
Speaker 2: near them to get a snack, but usually you prefer
Speaker 2: hanging around closer to the surface. This is where you
Speaker 2: see many of your other ocean friends. Seals, otters, manatees,
Speaker 2: and whales all nod and wave at you. But your
Speaker 2: favorite friend is the old sea turtle. She has lived
Speaker 2: such a long time and always seems so calm and peaceful.
Speaker 2: It's important to respect those who have lived so long.
Speaker 2: The turtle's hard shell has the most interesting square patterns
Speaker 2: on it. You try to imagine what it would feel
Speaker 2: like to have a hard shell like hers. It might
Speaker 2: be fun for a while, but it would definitely slow
Speaker 2: you down too much to keep up with your pod.
Speaker 2: Once in a while, you might spot a boat full
Speaker 2: of humans sailing nearby. This is always fun for you
Speaker 2: because you like to swim up alongside them and show
Speaker 2: off your experts. Swimming skills and tricks. When you leap
Speaker 2: out of the water and spin, the humans cheer and
Speaker 2: clap their hands together. You roll onto your side and
Speaker 2: show them how you can clap your flippers together too.
Speaker 2: These humans love seeing you as much as you love
Speaker 2: seeing them. Sometimes they even jump into the water and
Speaker 2: swim around. They look so funny with their long arms
Speaker 2: and legs, paddling and kicking every which way. You'd like
Speaker 2: to offer them so swimming lessons, but unfortunately they don't
Speaker 2: speak dolphin. You've been coming to the surface about every
Speaker 2: fifteen minutes to breathe in the cool seat air and
Speaker 2: breathe out all of your exuberant energy through your blowhole.
Speaker 2: Your flippers and tail have been flapping all day long.
Speaker 2: You're beginning to feel a bit tired. Go ahead and
Speaker 2: stretch your flippers for a moment and feel all those
Speaker 2: muscles begin to relax. It feels so good. The day
Speaker 2: seems to fly by very quickly when you're this busy.
Speaker 2: Now you notice that the sun is lowering in the sky.
Speaker 2: Twirling onto your back, you see the sky slowly changing color.
Speaker 2: This always makes you feel so relaxed. Your pod has
Speaker 2: led you to a shallow sandbar, which is a bit
Speaker 2: like an underwater beach. It looks perfect for your nighttime
Speaker 2: resting spot. You have covered a lot of ocean today,
Speaker 2: so you are ready to hunker down for a good
Speaker 2: night's rest along with the other dolphins. As the sky darkens,
Speaker 2: several of your podmates have already begun to shut off
Speaker 2: half of their brains. The dolphins close one eye and
Speaker 2: become still with their heads near the surface. This deep
Speaker 2: resting mode will rejuvenate their bodies overnight. When the sun
Speaker 2: comes up, they'll be ready for a new exciting day
Speaker 2: of ocean adventures. But right now you are still winding down,
Speaker 2: so you go up to the surface for another's low breath.
Speaker 2: You linger for a moment and notice a few stars
Speaker 2: are beginning to peek through the sky as the clouds
Speaker 2: slowly spread apart. Then you catch a glimpse of the
Speaker 2: large round moon rising above you, and do you decide
Speaker 2: it's the right time to shut off your brain for
Speaker 2: some well deserved sleep. Going down to the bottom of
Speaker 2: the smooth sandbar, you hear the echoing night song of
Speaker 2: a distant oil and faint underwater bubbles. These sounds reassure
Speaker 2: you that you are exactly where you should be. As
Speaker 2: you settle in for the night, all of today's activities
Speaker 2: are now becoming apriler of happy memories, the colorful anemone,
Speaker 2: the sailing boats, and the wise old turtle. Your thoughts
Speaker 2: are beginning to drift as you nod off with your podmates.
Speaker 2: There will be more exciting things to do tomorrow, but
Speaker 2: right now is the time to allow your dolphin dreams
Speaker 2: to come. Rolling in with one eye closed, you can
Speaker 2: still see how the moonbeams glow all around you. The
Speaker 2: soft shadows of seaweed wave slowly as tiny seahorses drift by.
Speaker 2: Without waking. You will return to the surface for a
Speaker 2: comforting deep breath, and as you breathe out, you will
Speaker 2: return to your resting spot, entering the sleepy realm of
Speaker 2: swirling ocean dreams. Good night, drowsy little dolphin, Sleep.
Speaker 3: Tight, any company us