Transcript Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphin

Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphin
Tursiops Truncatus
By: Lindsey Gonzales
Seth Cunningham
“There’s no place like home!”
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In the Atlantic Ocean,
bottlenose dolphins
are found from Nova
Scotia and Norway to
Patagonia and the tip
of Southern Africa.
They are the most
abundant dolphin
species along US from
Cape Cod through the
Gulf of Mexico.
Survival of the Fittest ;
How Dolphins Survive
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Dolphins are
carnivorous and they
are active
predators.Their
natural predators are
sharks and occasionally
killer whales.
They migrate when
resource supplies are
low and when the
climate changes.
Survival continued …
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Can swim at “burst”
speeds of up to 18-22
mph but on average
swim 3-7 mph.
Dolphins breath
oxygen by surfacing 2
- 3 times a minute, but
can hold their breath
for 5 - 10 minutes.

Dolphins dive
regularly to depths
of 10 - 150 ft., but
the best trained
can dive 1,795 ft.
Dinner Time !
Dolphins eat fish and squid. Some types are
mullet, sea trout, but they’re not picky. They
eat almost any kind of fish.
 Dolphins eat approx. 4% to 5% of their body
weight per day. An average Atlantic Bottlenose
weighs 419 - 573 lbs, so that means they eat
20.95 - 28.65 lbs. of food every day!
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Dinner Time continued…
Dolphins cooperate with each other when it’s
time to hunt. Dolphin pods herd large schools
of fish into small dense masses and then slap
the masses with their tail flukes. It then stuns
the fish and the dolphins feast.
 Dolphins swallow their food whole.
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“Awe, how cute!”
Dolphin Babies
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Dolphins reproduce
sexually.
Female dolphins are
pregnant for about 12
months.
A dolphin can calve
ever 2 years but
generally calves every
tree years.
Dolphin babies continued...
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A mother dolphin is
very protective of her
child and usually only
lets the assisting
dolphin near the
baby.
A baby dolphin
nurses for up to 18
months.
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Baby dolphins learn
everything from their
mom.
Within a few days of
birth, a baby calf can
vocalize.
“Your getting so big!”
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A baby dolphin is
about 42-52 in. long
and weighs 44lb.
Adult dolphins are
about 8.2- 8.9 ft.
long and weigh
between 419- 573 lb.
Long live the dolphins!
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A dolphins
average life span
is probably 20
years or less.
Bottlenose
dolphins have
lived as long as 48
years.
Endangered Species?
Bottlenose dolphins are NOT endangered!
 In the Gulf of Mexico, there is estimated
to be at least 67,000.
 In the western North Atlantic, the
bottlenose population is estimated at
about 11,700.
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Works Cited
Web site:
www.seaworld.org/bottlenose_dolphin/
habdisdol.html
 Encyclopedia:
The New Book of Knowledge: Book
D; Volume 4
 Book:
Marine Biology: Second Edition
Herbert H. Webber/ Harold V.
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