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| [Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note |
If sharks scare people then I think that dolphins stand for the complete opposite reaction. I never heard any guest saying that they are afraid of them or that they think that they are dangerous. Well… That’s the Disney versions of the dolphins… In real life they do things to each other that humans would go to jail for.
The Dolphin is the largest and most diverse family of cetaceans. It contains 26 recognized species and 6 toothed whales. Most forms of this family have functional teeth in both jaws, a melon with a distinct beak, smooth sloping foreheads, a single notch in the middle of their flukes and a dorsal fin. Of the 26 species of dolphin 13 tend to have long, well-defined beaks and streamlined slightly robust bodies. The remainder varies greatly in colour and patterns, the shape of their bodies, beaks and flippers, and dorsal fins. They do have similar short indistinct beaks and fairly robust bodies.
This is a relatively robust dolphin with a usually short and stubby beak - hence the name "bottlenose". The bottlenose dolphin (like the beluga) has more flexibility in its neck than other oceanic dolphins, because 5 of the 7 neck vertebrae are not fused together as in the other oceanic dolphins. There are 18-26 pairs of sharp, conical teeth in each side of its jaw.
Adult length is from 2.5-3.8 m. These dolphins may weigh as much as 650 kg off Great Britain, though most are much smaller in other parts of the world. Males are significantly larger than females. Males reach sexual maturity at about 10 years. Females reach sexual maturity at about 5-10 years. The gestation period is 12 months. Calving can take place year-round with peaks in some areas during spring and fall. Calves nurse for over a year (12-18 months), and stay with their mothers for 3-6 years learning how to catch fish and other important tasks.
Feeding behaviors are diverse, primarily involving individual prey capture, but sometimes involving coordinated efforts to catch food, feeding in association with human fishing, and chasing fish into mudbanks. An adult bottlenose dolphin may consume 8-15 kg) of food each day. Bottlenose dolphins eat a wide variety of food, including primarily fishes, and sometimes squid, and crustaceans.
Bottlenose dolphins are found worldwide in temperate and tropical waters, absent only from 45 degrees poleward in either hemisphere. They are frequently seen in harbors, bays, lagoons, estuaries, and river mouths. There appear to be two ecotypes: a coastal form and an offshore form. Population density appears to be higher nearshore. Biochemical studies now are providing more information about the relationship within and between the ecotypes. In some areas, dolphins have limited home ranges; in others, they are migratory. A second species Tursiops aduncus, inhabits the Indian Ocean. |
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