Bottlenose Dolphin Facts
Top 10

Bottlenose Dolphin Facts

2. Bottlenose Dolphins can swim up to 260 m. below the surface of the ocean, although they are mainly shallow divers, swimming usually only a few meters deep with quick access to air in the surface.

3. Bottlenose Dolphins can stay up to 15 minutes under water although they usually stay only a few minutes diving.

4. Bottlenose Dolphins use a technique called echolocation to find food and navigate. This technique is performed by sending ultrasounds through the water which is bounced back to the dolphin and then is detected by the dolphin in an organ called mellon which decodes the message very much like a sonar.

5. Bottlenose Dolphins are social beings which live in groups and cooperate among each other for activities like getting food and calf rising. To get food, they work in teams to optimize the effort of hunting. During calf rising, there is usually one dolphin who helps the mother to take care of the babies, very much like a midwife.

6. The bottlenose dolphin can grow up to 2.5-2.8 meters. While there are some other smaller species, there are some species much bigger like the killer whale.

7 . Bottlenose Dolphins are warm-blooded and their internal temperature is around 36 degrees. To conserve this temperature they are surrounded by a thick layer of fat called “blubber” just below the skin. This fat, allow dolphins to resist cold temperatures.

8 . The average botllenose dolphin brain weighs 1500-1600 grams, while average human brain weighs 1200-1300 grs. This is not a conclusive evidence of dolphin intelligence as many other factors might be the cause of intelligence according to scientists, however this brain capacity is a clear indication that dolphins have at least the potential intelligence.

9. Bottlenose Dolphins can make a unique signature whistle that may help individual dolphins recognize each other or perform any other kind of communication still unknown. Dolphins even make noises so loud that can stunt fish.

10. Bottlenose dolphins can swim 5 to 12 kilometers per hour, although they can reach up to 32 km/h.

Bottlenose dolphin facts are much more than those here listed, but this resume gives you a quick idea of the important facts.