Photo: NASA · Public domain
Bottlenose dolphin
Tursiops truncatus
Intelligent, playful and extraordinarily social, the bottlenose dolphin is the best-known dolphin in the world, a master of echolocation and of relationships between individuals.
Characteristics
Temperament
Intelligent, playful and extremely social. It lives in dynamic groups with lasting bonds; it hunts cooperatively and communicates with a rich repertoire of whistles.
Diet
Carnivore: mainly fish and squid, often caught with coordinated hunting techniques.
The most famous dolphin
The bottlenose dolphin is the best-known and most studied dolphin species, the one that popular imagination associates with the word 'dolphin'. It has a tapered, streamlined body, a dark grey back and a paler belly, and the characteristic 'smile' given by the shape of its mouth. Its short, sturdy snout, resembling a bottle, gave it its name. It is a marine mammal perfectly adapted to water, but it breathes air through the blowhole on top of its head, surfacing regularly.
An extraordinary intelligence
The bottlenose dolphin is regarded as one of the most intelligent animals on the planet. It has a large, complex brain, shows abilities in learning, problem-solving and even tool use: in some populations dolphins use sea sponges to protect their snouts while searching for food on the seabed. It can recognise itself in a mirror, a rare proof of self-awareness in the animal kingdom, and communicates with a rich repertoire of whistles, including an individual 'signature whistle' that works almost like a name.
The natural sonar
To orient itself and hunt in water, often murky or dark, the bottlenose dolphin uses echolocation. It emits series of sound clicks and listens to the echo that bounces off objects and prey, thus building a 'sound image' of its surroundings. Thanks to this biological sonar it can locate fish hidden in the sand and judge with precision shape, distance and movement.
Social life
Bottlenose dolphins live in complex, dynamic social groups, in which lasting bonds and alliances are formed. They hunt cooperatively, play, help one another and communicate constantly. They feed mainly on fish and squid, often with coordinated and surprising hunting techniques.
Conservation
The bottlenose dolphin is classified as least concern globally and its populations are large. Some local populations, however, are threatened by pollution, accidental capture in nets and human disturbance. Its intelligence and sociality also make it particularly sensitive to captivity, the subject of growing ethical debate.
