Project Name Dolphin Facts

The bottlenose dolphin is generally a robust, chunky dolphin, with a well-defined beak which is usually short and stubby. Body shape differs somewhat between and within regions, however, and a much slimmer bottlenose dolphin with a longer slimmer beak may also be seen, sometimes even in the same group as the 'traditional' shaped dolphins. The beak is always sharply demarcated from the forehead by a distinct crease.
The flippers are of moderate length, and pointed at the tip. The dorsal fin is falcate and located mid-back, although because the front half of the body is heavier in build than the tail end, the dorsal fin appears to be slightly behind the mid-point. The tail flukes have a deep median notch.
The colour and pattern of the bottlenose dolphin vary greatly, from dark grey, through light grey to brown. There is an indistinct cape, from the top of the melon to the dorsal fin, which narrows to a thin line behind the dorsal fin. The sides of the body are lighter than the cape, and graduate laterally to a pale ventral surface, from light grey to pink in colour. Some animals have spots. Subtle markings on the face and throat, and an eye to flipper stripe are hardly visible on most animals. Individuals may range in colour from all black, all white (albino) to cinnamon coloured.
Bottlenose dolphins are commonly scarred from interactions with conspecifics, males being more scarred than females.
There are 20 or so teeth per row in each jaw and they may become worn with age, particularly in coastal forms.

Whales, dolphins and porpoises are known collectively as cetaceans. Interestingly, there is no real scientific basis for splitting cetaceans into these three groups. Broadly speaking, the word 'whale' is used to describe the largest animals, 'dolphin' to describe the medium-sized ones, and 'porpoise' to describe the smallest. But some whales are smaller than the largest dolphins, and some dolphins are smaller than the largest porpoises.

Studies in Florida have shown that female bottlenose dolphins can live for more than 50 years, while males live to about 40 years of age.
Dolphins have been observed with rakes from killer whale teeth and have been noted to flee from approaching killer whales at high speeds. Bottlenose dolphins have also been found to bear scars or wounds from encounters with sharks, although they are themselves known to attack and kill sharks when they or their calves are threatened by attack.

Bottlenose dolphins are cosmopolitan in distribution and avoid only the very high latitudes. They are found in temperate and tropical waters of the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian Oceans as well as the Mediterranean, Black and Red Seas. In the Pacific Ocean, they range from northern Japan and southern California to Australia and Chile. In the Atlantic, they may be found from Nova Scotia and Norway to Patagonia and South Africa. They are common in the Indian Ocean from Australia to South Africa.

Bottlenose dolphins are considered to be very abundant in the eastern North Pacific. In some areas of Europe such as the southern North Sea and English Channel, populations have shown evidence of declines in recent decades. There are an estimated 10,000 to 13,000 bottlenose dolphins off the north-eastern United States (of which the inshore stock comprised 3-4 %)

There are two recognised ecotypes. One form has a coastal distribution and the other is offshore and more pelagic in habit. Off the coast of Argentina, a coastal group of bottlenose dolphins spent 92% of their time in water less than 10 m deep, and over the 21-month study period were never seen in water more than 39 m deep. Deeper water populations, distinct from the near-shore populations, are known, and it is common around the world to find bottlenose dolphins in coastal habitats, and different pods ranging offshore in any particular region.