Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphin
(Tursiops truncatus)
The Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphin can reach a length of up to 12.5 feet and a weight of up to 1,435 pounds. Most specimens of the bottlenose dolphin are smaller, averaging about 9 feet and weighing about 500 pounds. The bottlenose dolphin is further broken down into an inshore and offshore species. The offshore species tends to be larger. They are known to ride the surf and have been seen jumping clear of the water as high as 15-20 feet. Most bottlenose dolphins occur in groups of anywhere from single animals to several hundred individuals where the larger groups break down into smaller groups with no more than a dozen animals in each. Populations of these mammals can be found along most coastal and inshore waters including some of the enclosed seas such as the Black Sea, Mediterranean etc… There is also an offshore population that lives along the edges of the continental shelf. The coastal habitat of bottlenose dolphins has become hazardous to their health due to chemical pollution, human interaction and commercial fishing activities. People occasionally feed the wild animals that can cause infection and gastrointestinal problems. This occasional feeding leads the dolphins to become habituated to human interaction and many of those dolphins will later get into trouble with fish hooks and fish lines. A dolphins normal diet consist of fish, squid and krill.
MMC has assisted with the rescue of (10) Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphins.
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