The bottlenose dolphin is a medium – large sized dolphin that can be found traveling throughout the worlds tropical and sub tropical environments.
Known for their high level of intelligence, curiosity of humans and boisterous aerial acrobatics the bottlenose dolphin is a well-known and loved species throughout the world.
Below we’ve provided lot’s of information and fun facts about these awesome dolphins, which will provide you with a better understanding of how these amazing marine mammals live and the problems they face in the underwater world.
Physical Characteristics
The bottlenose dolphin has a grayish skin tone that varies from dark to light gray starting at the dorsal fin and ending near the lower body.
The under-body is much lighter in color and is closer to white than gray.
They have slim aero dynamic bodies and a short beak with conical-shaped teeth, which helps these dolphins find and capture various prey.
As far as size goes these dolphins can reach lengths between 6.5 – 13.5 ft and weigh anywhere from 300 – 1,400 lbs. when fully matures.
Unlike other species of dolphin the male is typically larger and heavier than its female counterpart.
Diet
The diet for the bottlenose dolphin consists of a variety of fish, squid and crustaceans.
While these dolphins do possess teeth they only use their teeth to grab their prey and swallow their food whole.
During hunting periods several dolphins can often be found working in groups pushing the fish towards the shore and circling or entrapping them so that they can have the best opportunity of successfully capturing their prey.
A group of dolphins may work together to herd the fish into a small ball or corner then take turns darting in and eating their immobilized prey.
They may also use their tail or flukes to hit and stun the fish, so that they will be easier to capture.
While they sometimes hunt in groups these dolphins may also be found hunting alone and both the hunting methods and number of dolphins found hunting in a pod can vary depending on the dolphin’s habitat and environment.
In addition to using sophisticated hunting strategies these dolphins are also equipped with echolocation, which allows them to detect where their prey is, alerts them of threats and helps them avoid collision with nearby objects.
Habitat
These dolphins can often be found living in warm tropical/sub tropical environments in waters above 50° F.
They can be found both in coastal and offshore waters in areas such as South Africa, Australia, Cape Cod, Chile, Hawaii, the Gulf of Mexico, Japan, Nova Scotia, Norway and Southern California and Florida in the United States.
They are also found in various parts of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, the Black Sea and the Mediterranean.
Social Structure
The bottlenose dolphin may be seen traveling on groups of 2 – 30 dolphins, however during mating or foraging periods some groups may form into the 100’s or 1,000’s.
These dolphins appear to exhibit both highly acrobatic and outgoing personalities often showing curiosity to humans and some other marine mammal species.
In some cases they have even been observed protecting humans from other predators (such as sharks) who may appear to be lost or in threat of being attacked in the ocean.
In terms of acrobatics these dolphins can be seen making large leaps and flips out of the water, often showing off their aerial abilities.
In order to communicate with one another they use a variety of clicks and whistles, which vary in tone depending on the dolphin that’s communicating.
This allows large groups of dolphins to distinguish which dolphin is speaking and makes it easier for them to locate one another.
Breeding
The average gestation period for the bottlenose dolphin is around 12 months.
Mating and birth can occur throughout the year; however breeding tends to occur more frequently during the warmer months.
After birth the baby dolphins are fed milk from their mothers, which they consume from a nipple located in the under-body.
The milk consists of a thick fatty liquid which helps prevent the milk from breaking apart in the water and caries vital nutrients for the child.
Nursing may continue anywhere from 1 ½ – 2 years or until the child able to hunt and consume solid foods on its own, and separate from the psychological dependency of needing its mothers milk.
In some cases the child may also continue to suckle from the mother’s nipple after she has stopped producing milk.
Sexual maturity (the point where dolphins begin mating and reproducing) generally occurs between the ages of 5 – 15 with the females dolphins often reaching maturity earlier than their male counterparts
Depending on a number of factors the estimated lifespan for these dolphins is 15 – 30 years with a few dolphins being known to live until the age of 40.
In terms of group or pod size male dolphins can often be found traveling together in groups of 2 – 3 dolphins, while female dolphins tend to travel in larger groups with their children and other females.
In a number of situations or events both the female and male groups may increase and/or intermingle with group numbers reaching into the dozens, hundreds or even thousands.
Some of these events may include foraging, mating and social play.
After they finish their event groups may split apart into their smaller pod sizes and separate until the next gathering.
Dolphins and Humans
Bottlenose dolphins are known to be boisterous and outgoing when in contact with humans and may display curiosity or excitement when communicating with people.
These marine mammals are highly intelligent and can learn complex tricks and behaviors that are taught to them by trainers.
They’ve even been featured as the primary attraction at marine shows and have played specialized roles in the military where they help soldiers locate mines and rescue people who have been lost at sea.
Their high level of intelligence has been so interesting to humans that scientists have been trying to devise a way to communicate with dolphins through technology and hope to one day be able to have a conversation with these amazing marine mammals.
From a cultural perspective dolphins have been popularized by movies and tourism, considered angelic beings by certain cultural societies and considered the reincarnation of family members through the beliefs of various groups.
Since their discovery humans have been attracted to the bottlenose dolphin as these dolphins have been attracted to us.
Threats
These dolphins are known to face threats from poachers and dolphin hunters looking to sell their meat to stores and restaurants for consumption by humans, used for crab bait and killed in order to maintain fish supplies since dolphins may make it difficult for fisheries to work effectively at capturing fish due to large stocks of dolphins eating the fish and/or attacking fish in fishing nets.
Bottlenose dolphins also face threats from accidentally being captured in fish nets intended for fish.
In these instances a dolphin may mistake a balled group of fish for easy prey and run right into the fishing net.
Because dolphins are mammals they must come to the surface for air, so there is a good chance that they could drown when caught in a fishing net, which prevents them from getting adequate oxygen to the lungs.
Most species of dolphin can only hold their breath for a few minutes (5 – 15 minutes) before they need to come up for air.
Recently extreme tourism has also been noted as a threat due to large quantities of people and boats in the ocean, which could cause collisions with the dolphins or even contribute to water pollution.
In terms of natural threats these dolphins may face occasional threats from sharks or groups of hungry killer whales as well as getting sick from natural diseases and parasites.