Bottlenose Dolphins

 

  1. I.Introduction:

    Dolphins are marine mammals that do not have gills and are members of the whale family. Bottle nose dolphins are small, toothed whales that have a long, beak-like snout, a sickle shaped dorsal fin, and cone-shaped teeth. Bottle nose dolphins are very calm and intelligent animals. Bottle nose dolphin’s Kingdom: Animalia - animals, Phylum: Chordata - vertebrates, Class: Mammalia - mammals, Order: cetacea - whales and dolphins ,Family - delphinidae .


  1. II.How many teeth do Bottle-nose dolphins have?

            Bottle-nose dolphins have 80-100 cone-shaped teeth. Even though Bottle-nose dolphins do not chew their food they still have have teeth to rip and tear their food. Also when Bottle-nose dolphins lose a tooth it does not grow back. When Bottle-nose dolphins lose a tooth they call it a  milked tooth. If you would like to tell the difference between a female  and  a male all you have to do is look at its built in smile made  by the curvature of  its  mouth.


  1. III.How long can Bottle-nose dolphins live?

       Bottle-nose can live up to 25 years long. They breath though a single blow-hole. Bottle-nose dolphins live  to weigh 300-650 lb. They even grow up to be 8-10 ft long. They live in warm temperate seas. They are very fast swimmers.




  1. IV.What kinds of food do Bottle-nose dolphins eat?

                Bottle-nose dolphins eat squid, fish, shrimp, porkfish, mackerel, octopus, anchovies, herring, cephalopods, pilchards, cod, and krill. Bottle-nose dolphins are hunters that fish at the surface of water. The Bottle-nose dolphin has teeth have  teeth on the  upper and lower jaw. When they hunt for food they hunt alone. When they grasp their food they do not  chew. Bottle-nose dolphins sometimes hit fish out of the water so they can eat it  this is called fish whacking.


  1. V.Are Bottle-nose dolphins endangered?

                   Bottle-nose dolphins are not endangered. Their future is very stable because they adapt to their environment and because there are so many. Certain species are endangered due to environmental changes. Many are endangered by water pollution, injury, and harassment from fishers. However in the US its illegal to hunt or harass marine mammals.