Common Bottlenose Dolphin
Tursiops truncatus
Least ConcernFast Facts
About
The common bottlenose dolphin is the most familiar of all dolphins, celebrated for its intelligence, playfulness and the perpetual 'smile' created by the curve of its jaw. Highly social and adaptable, it is found in warm and temperate seas across the globe.
It lives in fluid social groups called pods and communicates through a rich vocabulary of clicks, whistles and body language.
Behaviour
Bottlenose dolphins hunt cooperatively, sometimes herding fish into tight balls or driving them onto mudbanks. They navigate and locate prey using echolocation, emitting clicks and interpreting the returning echoes.
Remarkably, each dolphin develops its own 'signature whistle', a unique call that functions much like a name, allowing individuals to recognise and summon one another.
Did you know?
- Each dolphin has its own 'signature whistle' that works much like a name
- They sleep with one half of the brain at a time so they can keep surfacing to breathe
- Some populations use sea sponges as tools to protect their beaks while foraging
- Dolphins find prey in murky water using echolocation
Distribution
Temperate and tropical seas worldwide
