Bottlenose Dolphin Habitat Range
Bottlenose dolphins are the kind of dophin you probably visualize when you hear the word porpoise or dolphin. Tursiops truncatus, as they are known to marine biologists, are the most common kind of dolphin. Their habitat is wide spread, as they live in ocean waters worldwide, as long as it is in a temperate or tropical area.
Bottlenose dolphins live not only in the open ocean, but also in bays, lagoons, estuaries and harbors. In the Atlantic Ocean, bottlenose dolphins live from the lattitudes of Nova Scotia and Norway to Patagonia and the tip of South Africa. In the Pacific, they are found in the waters off of Central California and Northern Japan all the way down to Chile and Australia.
These animals (yes, they are classified as mammals) live in groups of 15 or more, called pods. The pods work as a team to harvest fish for their diet, although they also hunt alone.
Bottlenose dolphins are not endangered. Their future is stable because of their abundance and high adaptability. However, some specific populations are threatened due to various environmental changes. The population in the Moray Firth in Scotland is estimated to consist of around 150 animals and is declining by around 6% per year due to the impact of harassment and traumatic death, water pollution and reduction in food availability. Less local climate change, such as increasing water temperature may also play a role.
In U.S. waters, hunting and harassing of marine mammals is forbidden in almost all circumstances. The international trade in dolphins is also tightly controlled.
References:
Curran, S., Wilson, B. and Thompson, P (1996). “Recommendations for the sustainable management of the bottlenose dolphin population in the Moray Firth”. Scottish Natural Heritage Review 56
Hersh, Sandra L. and Deborah A. Duffield. “Distinction Between Northwest Atlantic Offshore and Coastal Bottlenose Dolphins Based on Hemoglobin Profile and Morphometry.” In The Bottlenose Dolphin, edited by Stephen Leatherwood and Randall R. Reeves, pp. 129-139. San Diego: Academic Press, Inc., 1990.
Wells, Randall S. “The Role of Long-Term Study in Understanding the Social Structure of a Bottlenose Dolphin Community.” In Dolphin Societies: Discoveries and Puzzles, edited by K. Pryor and K.S. Norris, pp. 199-225. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991.
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