Bottlenose dolphins, the genus Tursiops, are the most common and well-known members of the family Delphinidae, the family of oceanic dolphins. Recent molecular studies show the genus contains two species, the common bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) and the Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops aduncus), instead of one. They inhabit warm and temperate seas worldwide. Dolphins often work as a team to harvest fish schools, but they also hunt individually. Dolphins search for prey primarily using echolocation, which is similar to sonar. They emit clicking sounds and listen for the return echo to determine the location and shape of nearby items, including potential prey. Bottlenose dolphins also use sound for communication, including squeaks and whistles emitted from the blowhole and sounds emitted through body language, such as leaping from the water and slapping their tails on the water surface. Bottlenose dolphins are one of the most intelligent mammals on planet earth.
Ten Facts about Bottle-nosed Dolphin
- Bottlenose dolphins live in groups typically of 10-30 members, called pods, , but group size varies from single individuals up to more than 1,000.
- Their diet consists mainly of forage fish.
- They are grey, varying from dark grey at the top near the dorsal fin to very light grey and almost white at the underside. This countershading makes it hard to see, both from above and below.
- Adults range in length between 2 and 4 metres (6.6 and 13 ft), and in weight between 150 and 650 kilograms (330 and 1,400 lb).
- Bottlenose dolphins can live for more than 40 years.
- Bottlenose dolphins have 18 to 28 conical teeth on each side of each jaw.
- In colder waters, they have more body fat and blood, and are more suited to deeper diving. Typically, 18%-20% of their bodyweight is blubber.
- By contrast, a bottlenose's sense of smell is poor, because its blowhole, the analogue to the nose, is closed when underwater and opens only for breathing.
- The gestation period averages 12 months. Births can occur at any time of year, although peaks occur in warmer months.
- Newborn bottlenose dolphins are between 0.8-1.4 m (2.6-4.6 ft) 9-30 kg (20-66 lb) kilograms, with Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin infants generally smaller than common bottlenose dolphin infants.
