Habitat: The offshore species of Bottlenose Dolphins live in most of the warm tropical oceans in this world. Most of the dolphins live in the sunlight zone. Some say that dolphins dive to the twilight zone (337m/1011ft), but they don’t stay or live there.The inshore species of Bottlenose Dolphins are often seen along the coast, in the rivers and where the river and ocean meet. Other bottlenose dolphins are found in different kinds of marine parks which are visited by people and they interact with people. Like the one you already know SEAWORLD!
Predators: Killer Whales and sharks such as tiger sharks and dusky sharks will eat dolphins. Other threats are fishing nets (trawling, drift and gill nets). Also dangerous chemicals that get into the ocean which can poison their food. Dolphins can also be threatened by habitat destruction and degradation, pollution, diseases and illegal killing of dolphins. In different parts of the world people will kill bottlenose dolphins for food. Also, the food they eat has been fished out, which means that the dolphins won't be able to eat the right amount of food daily to survive on this earth.
Prey: Bottlenose Dolphins eat a lot of different species of sea creatures. They eat a wide variety of fish, squid, octopuses and shrimp. They mostly eat the fish that are found at the bottom of the ocean. Common dolphins eat ten to twenty pounds of fish each day. The amount of food it eats per day is about 1/3 (one-third) the dolphins weight. They will sometimes follow the boats of shrimp for prey that can be eaten when tossed overboard like leftovers. They work in teams and cooperate with each other, which helps them get their food. The dolphins eat their food quickly by swallowing their food whole!
Physical Adaptations: Bottlenose dolphins have to adapt to their environment. They have smooth bodies and 250 sharp teeth. They use their teeth to catch their prey. The Dolphins thin body helps it to swim through the water like a speeding torpedo (35 kilometers per hour). At birth a Calve (baby dolphin) weighs about 15-30 kilograms and is 70-130 centimeters long. When they grow up, they can reach to 2-4 meters long and weigh between 150-650 kilograms. Its blubber (fat) helps the dolphin to stay warm in cold waters, and its blubber also helps the dolphin swim quickly and smoothly while dashing through the water. They have a huge brain compared to the size of their body. This tells us that the dolphin is incredibly smart. Dolphins have a dorsal fin that can help it slice through the water. The dorsal fin can be seen above water. The dolphin has a dark grey back and a light colored belly. This protects the dolphins from predators that may want to feast on them. When the predators look up from the deep and see the light colored belly it blends in with the glare of the sun. When seen from above the predators will not see them, because their dark back blends in with the deep water below. Dolphins do not live underwater, which tells us that they need oxygen to go under water. When they dive underwater their heart beats slower while diving and their blood leaves the other parts of their body and goes to their heart, lungs and to their brain.
Behavioral Adaptations: Bottlenose dolphins live in dolphin packs. In the earlier days the dolphins didn’t change their groups, but that is what the researcher thought. Researchers today know that dolphins actually do change their groups and switch one to another during their lifetime,so that tells us that the researchers were wrong. Dolphins usually swim in groups of two to fifteen dolphins. The bigger the groups the farther down they will go, and the smaller the groups are the more they will stick to the shallow areas. The groups will help them have more protection because of the other dolphins and they will fight together. The dolphins will also help each other to get food.
Fun Facts: "The most popular dolphin is the Bottlenose Dolphin as it is the one we have seen in tv series, movies, and aquatic shows."
Bottlenose Dolphins can stay under water up to 15 minutes.
However bottlenose dolphins usually stay only a few minutes diving.
The bottlenose dolphin can grow up to 2.8 meters. While there are some other smaller species, there are some species much bigger like the killer whale.
Bottlenose dolphins can swim 5 to 12 kilometers per hour. (Although they can reach up to 32 km/h.)
Cited Sources:
http://www.marineparks.wa.gov.au/fun-facts/bottlenose-dolphin.html
http://www.wisedude.com/animals/dolphins.htm
http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/Animals/CreatureFeature/Bottlenose-dolphin
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_ocean_zone_do_Bottlenose_dolphins_live_in
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/dgifs/Dolphin_color.GIF
http://www.seaworld.org/animal-info/info-books/bottlenose/behavior.htm
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_are_behavorial_adaptations_for_a_bottle_nose_dolphin