Learn all about the endearing bottlenose dolphin, which lives and plays in the waters off the British coastline <\/p>
Celebrity comes naturally to some.\u00a0The cry of \u2018dolphin!<\/em>\u2019 stops most people in\u00a0their tracks, necks craned and eyes shielded from sunlight reflected on the waters where this most\u00a0talkative of acrobats plays.<\/strong><\/p> \u00a0Our entire\u00a0coast\u00a0is a part-time\u00a0theatre for bottlenose dolphins:\u00a0from Cornwall <\/a>to Orkney<\/a>, Brighton to Northumberland<\/a>, they spin magic. <\/p> Dolphins are good for us \u2013 they boost our economy via wildlife watching tours, and bring a smile to many faces. But they also challenge us to tread a little more\u00a0softly on the marine environment.<\/p> Bottlenose dolphins are marine mammals. There are two species of bottlenose dolphin: the common bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus<\/em>) which we see in our seas and the Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops aduncus)<\/em>.<\/p> Bottlenose dolphins need quiet so that they can talk. Their whistles pulse around them as they speed through the water; each dolphin has a unique call, and some research suggests they mimic the whistles of others to\u00a0address\u00a0them by ‘name\u2019.\u00a0<\/p> Large-brained, gregarious \u2013 pods can reach 1,000 individuals, although groups of 15 are more common.<\/p> Bottlenose lifespan can live for several decades, and usually notch up between \u00a030 and 50 years in the wild<\/p> The bottlenose dolphin is famously one of the smartest and most self-aware of all wild species. They are one of a select few which recognises itself in a mirror<\/a>. One population in Australia\u00a0even exploits tools<\/a>,\u00a0using\u00a0marine sponges\u00a0to aid their\u00a0foraging\u00a0for prey on the sea floor.<\/p> Our British bottlenose\u00a0dolphins are some of the largest\u00a0of this highly international species,\u00a0tipping the scales at up to 365kg.\u00a0<\/p> What a bottlenose dolphin eats will depend on where it lives. For those in the Moray Firth, there\u2019s nothing better than a plump tasty salmon. For others it\u2019s squid and crustaceans. They swallow their food whole and if you watch a dolphin hunting fish, you will often see it tossing its prey into the air to get a better angle so that it slides down the throat more easily. They hunt using\u00a0echolocation<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p> Their size, sociability and greyness distinguish them from the chubby dark frame of the more solitary harbour porpoise, which is the other cetacean likely to be seen close to shore. It is fair to say that porpoises have little reason to share our affection for dolphins, which can attack them with extraordinary aggression. But then to a dolphin, a porpoise is an intolerable competitor for cod, pollock and other marine delicacies.<\/p>What are bottlenose dolphins?<\/h2>
How do bottlenose dolphins communicate?<\/h2>
How many bottlenose dolphins live in a pod?<\/h2>
How long do bottlenose dolphins live?<\/h2>
How smart are bottlenose dolphins?<\/h2>
How big are bottlenose dolphins?<\/h2>
What do bottlenose dolphins eat?<\/h2>
How to tell the difference between bottlenose dolphins and harbour porpoises?<\/h2>