Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus)
Image from UNCW Marine Mammal Program Image from UNCW Marine Mammal Program Taken under NOAA scientific permit #948-1692-00 Taken under NOAA scientific permit #948-1692-00 Species Description: - Body coloration ranges from light grey to black dorsally - Robust body and moderately falcate dorsal fin and laterally, with a lighter colored belly - Sharp demarcation between melon and short rostrum - Body size and appendage shape varies across - Pectoral flipper’s leading edge convex, pointed tips geographic regions - Flukes concavely curved along trailing margin and - Average adult length is 6-12 ft (2-3.8 m) notched in center - Average adult weight is 300-1400 lbs (135-635 kg)
Behavior: Reproduction: - Fast, efficient swimmers - Lifespan for males - 40-45 yrs, females - over 50 yrs - Cruise at speeds of 1.4 to 3.1 meters per second (3.1-6.9 - Sexual maturity for males - 9-14 yrs, females - 5-13 yrs miles per hour) - Gestation period approximately 12 months - Coastal form found in groups of 2-15 individuals - Calving season usually occurs in warmer months - Groups types include: female bands/nursery, subadult, and male pairs
Diet: - Fish Threats / Conservation: Conservation/ Threats: - Benthic invertebrates - Not endangered - Pelagic fish and squids - Protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act in - Feeding strategies include “fish whacking”, “kerplunking”, United States “crater” feeding, and herding - Bycatch from gillnets, seines, trawls and fishing gear - In 2013-14 experienced a Morbillivirus unusual mortality event
Species Distribution: - Usually found in warm temperate and tropical seas, in both coastal and offshore areas - Inhabit water with a surface temperature ranging from 10C to 32C
Courtesy of NOAA - Coastal populations can migrate into bays, estuaries and river mouths Bottlenose Dolphin Range Map - Offshore populations inhabit both continental shelf and pelagic waters
Strandings in North Carolina: UNCW Stranding Program under NOAA SA UNCW Stranding Program under NOAA SA - From 1992 to 2014, 2,072 bottlenose dolphins stranded in North Carolina - Most commonly stranded cetacean in North Carolina References: Information for this document came primarily from NOAA’s Office of Protected Resources website Other references included Handbook of Marine Mammals Volume 6: The Second Book of Dolphins and the Porpoises (1999). Produced by UNCW student Jasmine Medina, 2015