Bottlenose dolphins are present in most oceans and seas of the world and adapt quickly to several types of habitat.

Their thermoregulation capacity allows them to live in waters ranging from 10 to 32 degrees Celsius, which includes temperate, tropical and subtropical areas of the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian Ocean, as well as the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea between Europe and Asia. The regions that avoid are the polar zones, but some individuals move through the north of Europe, whose waters have low temperatures.

In the Pacific, their distribution range is from northern Japan to Australia and from southern California to Chile in the eastern Pacific Ocean including all the vast area in the middle.

In the Atlantic ocean, they dwell from Nova Scotia to Patagonia in the West and from Norway to South Africa in the East including all the eastern coast of the United States, and the Gulf of Mexico.

Bottlenose dolphin habitat includes bays, open waters, coastal areas, lagoons, estuaries, tidal areas and shallow areas. They even venture occasionally into some rivers.

The other bottlenose species, the Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin, is also distributed in tropical and subtropical areas in specific regions of the ocean. This dolphin inhabits from western South Africa to Japan, including eastern and western Australia and places such as the Red Sea, Persian Gulf, Solomon Islands and the Indo-Malay archipelago.

The Indo-Pacific dolphin lives near the coasts of continental shelves, at depths of less than 300 meters and around oceanic islands. It frequently visits estuaries and coral reefs where fish banks thrive, and a significant amount of cephalopods live. Therefore it tolerates salt water and brackish waters.

In the vast ocean, all creatures are vulnerable. Bottlenose dolphins are cetaceans that rarely become prey, thanks to their size, their intelligence, the use of echolocation and their level of socialization that gives them a significant advantage by staying in groups and intimidating their opponent. However, two predators will take the smallest opportunities to feed on dolphins: killer whales and sharks.

We know that the killer whales are expert hunters, especially when they hunt in organized groups. Although there are few documented cases, these animals that are the world’s largest dolphins, attack other species of smaller dolphins, mainly young, newborn or sick. To do it they separate the mother from the calf, making impossible to the latter defend its offspring.

However, a group of orcas does not feel intimidated by a large pod of dolphins. Although there are no records of this kind of attack to bottlenose dolphins, there are videos where a pod of killer whales approaches aggressively to groups of dolphins of other species, and as if they were seals, they beat them and throw them into the air until they are stunned and finally feed on them. Several types of dolphins suffer this kind of aggression, and the bottlenose dolphins are likely part of this list.

Regarding sharks, the most dangerous species for members of the genus Tursiops are the largest: tiger shark, sand shark, bull shark and, of course, the great white shark. It is not uncommon to observe dolphins with scars from shark attacks, which means they are not easy prey and their escape techniques often help them survive.

A study conducted in Shark Bay, Western Australia, revealed that 95 of 128 bottlenose dolphins analyzed showed scars from shark bites, mostly from tiger sharks. The frequency of new body marks and the high attack rates suggest that bottlenose dolphins are at risk in this locality more than in other parts of the world.

A few cases with rays are known. Although they are not dolphin predators because they have a diet based on small fish, mollusks, and plankton, the trauma and infections they cause with the sharp edges of their tail sometimes become deadly.

Bottlenose Dolphin in Park

Bottlenose Dolphins at play in Perdido Bay, near Orange Beach, Baldwin County, Alabama

Image Courtesy of: Altairisfar

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gM2efVf5xM

1. Bottlenose Dolphins are mammals.

Bottlenose dolphins nurse their calves with milk from mammary glands of the mothers.

2. Bottlenose Dolphins can swim up to 260 m. below the surface of the ocean.

However they need quick access to air in the surface, therefore bottlenose dolphins usually are shallow divers and close to the surface.

3. Bottlenose Dolphins can stay up to 15 minutes under water.

However bottlenose dolphins 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.

Bottlenose dolphins cooperate among each to get food. To do this, they work in teams to optimize the effort of hunting.

They also cooperate for calf rising, when usually one dolphin helps the mother to take care of the calves, very much like a midwife.

 6. The bottlenose dolphin can grow up to 2.8 meters.

While there are some other smaller species, there are some species much bigger like the killer whale.

“The most popular dolphin is the Bottlenose Dolphin as it is the one we have seen in tv series, movies, and aquatic shows”

7 . Bottlenose Dolphins are warm-blooded.

Their internal temperature is around 36 degrees. To keep 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 and regulate their body temperature.

8 . The average bottlenose dolphin brain weighs 1500-1600 grams.

If this is compared with the average human brain which weighs between 1200-1300 grs. Bottlenose dolphin brain is larger, however 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 of higher intelligence.

9. Bottlenose Dolphins are great communicators.

They 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.