Preview

Bottlenose Dolphin

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
293 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Bottlenose Dolphin
Bottlenose dolphins, the genus Tursiops, are the most common and well-known members of the family Delphinidae, the family of oceanic dolphin.[1] Recent molecular studies show the genus contains two species, the common bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) and the Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops aduncus), instead of one. Research in 2011 revealed a third species, the Burrunan dolphin (Tursiops australis). They inhabit warm and temperate seas worldwide.

Bottlenose dolphins live in groups typically of 10–30 members, called pods, but group size varies from single individuals up to more than 1,000. Their diets consist mainly of forage fish. Dolphins often work as a team to harvest fish schools, but they also hunt individually. Dolphins search for prey primarily using echolocation, which is similar to sonar. They emit clicking sounds and listen for the return echos to determine the location and shape of nearby items, including potential prey. Bottlenose dolphins also use sound for communication, including squeaks and whistles emitted from the blowhole and sounds emitted through body language, such as leaping from the water and slapping their tails on the water surface.

There have been numerous investigations of bottlenose dolphin intelligence. Research on bottlenose dolphins has examined mimicry, use of artificial language, object categorization and self-recognition. Their considerable intelligence has driven interaction with humans. Bottlenose dolphins are popular from aquarium shows and television programs such as Flipper. They have also been trained by militaries to locate sea mines or detect and mark enemy divers. In some areas, they cooperate with local fishermen by driving fish into their nets and eating the fish that escape. Some encounters with humans are harmful to the dolphins: people hunt them for food, and dolphins are killed inadvertently as a bycatch of tuna

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    The Burrunan Dolphin

    • 828 Words
    • 4 Pages

    truncates and T. aduncus. DNA tests were carried out to determine which species they were to be categorized under. Through these tests as well as external and internal cranial measurements, it was concluded that this was a new species of bottlenose dolphin. The new species in comparison to the two recognized Tursiops species differ in cranial characteristics as well as external morphology, the major differences being the overall size of the fully-grown adult body, the color variations and smaller beaks of the new species. The common name used to describe the species, Burrunan, is an Aboriginal name meaning “name of a large sea fish of the porpoise kind” to pay respect to the Aborigines that were on her research team. The Burrunan dolphin falls under the Kingdom Animalia, referring to animals, Class Mammalia which is describing mammals, Order Cetacea is known as marine mammals, Family Delphinidae classifies oceanic dolphins, and finally, Genus Tursiops is used to represent bottlenose dolphins as a…

    • 828 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    suggest that both Crystal Cove and Newport Harbor are greatly used by coastal bottlenose dolphin and suggests more…

    • 2099 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Synchronized hydrophones were used to record the whitsles of the dolphins and their range seemed to be lower than estimated. Another experiment tests whether or not killer whale predation affects the vocalization of different types of dolphins. Whistles, which can propagate over several kilometers, may be necessary to retain group cohesion. This type of long distance communication may also serve as a dinner bell to any killer whales in the area, and our results show that these dolphins were less likely to be vocal in the presence of killer whales (Rankin, Archer, and Barlow, 2013).…

    • 743 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “During the first 15 years of our study, I had never seen entangled dolphins—dead or alive. But in the last 10 years, I’ve seen at least a dozen, and I think it’s getting worse,” Rittmaster…

    • 1030 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Bottle Nosed Dolphin

    • 580 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The authors of this experiment did it all in their free time, not affiliated with any institutions.…

    • 580 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Spinner dolphins can dive 900 feet in depth and stay 8 minutes under the water when they are searching for food, Squid is a huge part of the diet for the Spinner Dolphins. These dolphins have no problem successfully hunting in the deeper and darker waters. They can survive from 20 to 20 years in the wild. Natural enemies of spinner dolphins are sharks, killer whales and pilot whales. Spinner dolphins are very social animals. They live in groups (called pods) of 100 to 1.000 animals. The average size…

    • 377 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Whales in Captivty

    • 474 Words
    • 2 Pages

    "AquaFacts: Whales in Aquariums." Vancouver Aquarium. N.p., 30 Mar 2010. Web. 21 Jan 2013. <http://www.vanaqua.org/education/aquafacts/whales-in-aquariums.html>.…

    • 474 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Orca Research Paper

    • 933 Words
    • 4 Pages

    There are very few animals that can compare to the top mammal of marine animals. The Orca or killer whale is the largest of the dolphin family; with the full name of Orcinus Orca; meaning Greek god of the underworld. They are whales with distinct black and white coloring and have teeth that can be up to 4 inches in length. Not only they one of the largest of the sea they are also the fastest of marine animals and can travel speeds of up to 35 miles per hour.…

    • 933 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    First of all, the experiment will have to have a carefully set time and place. Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins inhabit tropical and temperate waters of the Indian and western Pacific Oceans; they…

    • 757 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The flippers of both sexes are large and oval, unlike those of any other toothed whale. Killer whales may be solitary or live in groups of 2 to more than 50 animals. They feed on fish, squid, marine birds, pinnipeds (see Seal), and even other cetaceans. They generally cooperate during hunting, especially when feeding on large, warm-blooded animals such as penguins, seals, and porpoises. Killer whales have even been known to prey on blue whales, the largest species on earth. In most areas, killer whales have specialized feeding habits. In the Pacific Northwest of the United States and the Pacific Provinces of Canada, for example, resident populations feed mainly on salmon and other near-shore fishes, while transient populations feed primarily on harbor seals and porpoises. In several places in the southern hemisphere they habitually beach themselves as they rush ashore to take seals or sea lions in the turbulent surf zone, moving back to deeper water afterward. Killer whales use echolocation to gather information about their surroundings—that is, they send out high-frequency clicks that bounce off prey and other objects and they interpret the returning…

    • 844 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Is Orcas Intelligent?

    • 561 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Orcas are highly intelligent; they often live in groups called pods. Each pod is made up of several females and their offspring the members of the pod communicate through underwater calls. A pod may work together to hunt. Despite their name, killer whales are actually dolphins; they are the largest kind of dolphin. They have not been known to attack people in the wild. Orcas are up to 30 feet long, they weigh up to 10 tons, they have shiny black backs, and they are white underneath. Orcas feed on a wide variety of animals. They hunt salmon and other fish, seals, dolphins, and whales. Orcas are large ocean animals; they live in all the oceans, especially in cold waters Orcas live in the ocean, and they are large, fast hunters. They are mammals, animals that feed their young on mother's milk. “Years ago, sailors saw orcas kill whales. They called them ‘whale killers.’ Over time, people started calling them ‘killer whales.’” (Info Bits, Gale)…

    • 561 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Dolphin Captivity Essay

    • 468 Words
    • 2 Pages

    When the word dolphin comes to mind what do you think of? Seaworld? Flipper? or what about tuna? What most people don’t think about is Dolphins helping the United States Navy. Since 1950’s dolphins have been trained in captivity to assist the navy with important missions.…

    • 468 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Sharks and dolphins are both ocean creatures. From afar they look alike but are contrasting ocean creatures. One of the main allusions is that they are the same type of creature, but a shark is a fish while a dolphin is a mammal. Because sharks are fish, they are cold blooded, and because dolphins are mammals they are warm blooded. Dolphins have blow holes and can only stay under water for up to seven to twelve minutes. Although sharks do not have blow holes, they have five to seven gills on their side and stay under water their whole life. Sharks swim by moving their tail and bodies side to side; instead dolphins move their tails and bodies up and down. Lastly, one more main difference between a dolphin and a shark is the dorsal fin; on a dolphin the dorsal fin at the top is curve, yet on sharks the dorsal fin is straight. While they both live in the ocean, these are just a few points about how sharks and dolphins are truly different ocean creatures.…

    • 287 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Taiji Dolphin Hunt

    • 895 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The slaughtering of the dolphins is carried out using very cruel methods. Dolphins are acoustic animals meaning they are sensitive to sound; it is how they collect their information. The Japanese use this to their advantage and exploit their sensitivity and by whacking metal pipes along the sides of their boats, creating a loud, thundering sound. This creates a barrier of sound and drives them towards the bay as they attempt to escape the fearful noise, marking the beginning of a long and torturous process.…

    • 895 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    I. Imagine yourself surrounded by a pool of water, but not just any pool of water, the biggest one of all: the ocean. You’re in the ocean attempting to swim, but only this time, instead of moving your arms over your head and your legs up and down, your only moving your lower half, up and down. You swim for a period of time and then suddenly realize your oxygen supply is slowly running out. You swim to the surface and breathe, then your right back at it, swimming with no cares in the world. If you haven’t realized it by now, you’re a bottlenose dolphin.…

    • 885 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics