DOLPHIN DAYS: The Life and Times of...

DOLPHIN DAYS: The Life and Times of the Spinner Dolphin by Kenneth S. Norris (Avon: $10; 335 pp., illustrated). Norris began studying the behavior of spinner dolphins in an effort to help reduce the number of animals killed by the tuna industry. He became fascinated by the graceful creatures, and did extensive, ground-breaking research into their biology and sociology. “Days” offers fascinating hypotheses about the reasons dolphins behave as they do: how they hunt, why they form schools, how they communicate among themselves, why they execute their characteristic spinning leaps. The result is a model of popular science writing--readable, entertaining and informative.