BOTTLENOSE DOLPHIN Watching (Tursiops Truncates)
The bottlenose dolphin is one of the most easily recognized members of the dolphin family, getting its fame from the Flipper TV series. It’s a relatively robust dolphin reaching lengths of 12 feet and a max weight of over 1400 lbs. Bottlenose eat primarily small schooling fish as well as squid and crustaceans. An adult bottlenose dolphin can eat up to 30 pounds of food each day.
Males will reach maturity at about 10 years, females between 5 and 10, and the females will have one calf every 2 to 3 years. Baby bottlenose will stay with mom for 3-6 years learning how to eat, how to act around boats, and other dolphin-y skills. We find bottlenose dolphins worldwide in temperate and tropical waters both offshore and costal. Some populations are resident, others migrate. A general pod size will be anywhere between 10 to 20 individuals.
If we were to put a hydrophone in the water, we would hear the dolphins communicating with each other through echolocation. They also use their echolocation to navigate through murky water and to hunt. These animals are not fish, they are mammals which means that they breathe air just like humans. The only difference between a dolphins’ breathing and a humans’ breathing is that dolphin have to think about each breath that they take; they are conscious breathers.
When a dolphin sleeps, it will coast along the surface and only half of its brain will sleep, while the other half is given the task of consciously breathing. These are incredibly intelligent animals that do very well in captivity. Their average lifespan in both the wild and in captivity is approximately 40-50 years.