The Bottle-Nosed Dolphin
Uploaded by ben_tuni on Oct 22, 1999
The Bottle-nosed Dolphin is the most studied and generally the best-known species of dolphin. Bottle-nosed dolphins are classified "Tursiops truncates" in scientific name, and belong to the family Delphinidae, in the suborder Odontoceti, order Cetacea.
This animal is a very intelligent individual. Bottle-nosed dolphins are commonly found in zoos or marine parks because of their capability to perform tricks. They can jump through hoops 5 meters high because of their incredibly powerful tail. As well as jumping, Bottle-nosed dolphins can raise themselves upright out of the water and travel backwards, by threshing their tails.
Bottle-nosed dolphins are generally coastal creatures, occurring along almost all tropical and temperate coasts, although offshore varieties also occur. In addition, the Bottle-nosed dolphin is called the "all-ocean" dolphin, meaning that it lives in every ocean. It is common for a school of 20 dolphins to live together in coastal regions, but school of 200 dolphins are found in the offshore verities. These schools do not seem to have a leader and generally stay together for life.
Such sea life as shrimp, squid, small sharks, other vertebrates and fish are all a part of a Bottle-nosed dolphins diet. When they find a large school of fish, several schools of dolphins join up to form groups of up to 1000 dolphins. They work together to head and catch the fish. Another feeding method the Bottle-nosed dolphin has developed is chasing the fish on to mud banks and snaps them in the air.
Bottle-nosed dolphins are an extremely adaptable mammal. For example, the Atlantic Ocean form tends to be a little smaller and stockier with a shorter rostrum (nose) compared to the Pacific form. In Scottish waters, Bottle-nosed dolphins are chubby with a dark gray complexion, while the in Australian waters, Bottle-nosed dolphins are thin, light gray appearance, with a dominant circle around each eye. The reason why this dolphin may change its physical appearance is because there may be more fish in Scotland, or the prey may be a slower breed, making the Bottle-nosed dolphin not work as hard for its food, therefore creating a chubbier breed of Bottle-nosed dolphin compared to other parts of the world. Bottle-nosed dolphin have recently been introduced and are now bonding with humans in dolphin watching and swim-with-dolphin tourism activities in nature.
A female Bottle-nosed dolphin will mature between the age of 5 to 12 years, and males at 9 to 13 years. Bottle-nosed dolphins...