Hobbies And Interests
Diet
Bottlenose dolphins are carnivorous. The largest part of the bottlenose dolphin's diet is made up of a range of fish. Other foods that are commonly consumed by this dolphin include squid, eels and crabs. The exact diet of an individual bottlenose dolphin depends on what is available in its habitat. For example, bottlenose dolphins that live in open waters usually consume a diet of squid and fish, including fish that can be found at depths of up to 1,600 feet below the surface of the water. Those that live in close proximity to the coast tend to consume a diet made up of fish and the invertebrates that live on the bottom of relatively shallow coastal waters. The bottlenose dolphin usually consumes between 17.6 and 30 pounds of food per day.
Predatory Behavior
Bottlenose dolphins locate their prey and identify its size and shape through echolocation. The dolphin produces clicking noises that bounce back to it as an echo, relaying information about surrounding objects. A bottlenose dolphin may hunt an individual fish by stunning it underwater with a blow from its tail or by using its tail to flip the fish out of the water. A stunned fish is easier for the dolphin to catch and consume. Groups, or pods, of bottlenose dolphins also work together to hunt prey. The pod surrounds a school of fish and works together to push and contain the fish in a small area. Fishing boats are often followed by bottlenose dolphins in the hope they will be able to feed on anything that the fishermen discard.
Physical Adaptations for Feeding
Between 36 and 54 pointed teeth line the bottlenose dolphin's jaws. These teeth enable the dolphin to catch its prey and hold onto it effectively. However, the bottlenose dolphin does not use its teeth to chew food. Bottlenose dolphins drag or beat their prey along the floor of the ocean. This causes pieces of the prey to break away. The dolphin can then eat the small pieces of meat without chewing. The bottlenose dolphin's stomach is divided into compartments. The organization of the dolphin's stomach speeds up the digestion process, allowing it to consume a large amount of food in a short amount of time.
Young
Female dolphins feed milk to their young for a period of between 12 and 18 months. Calves feed from nipples that are found inside slits on either side of the mother's genitalia. Bottlenose dolphins begin to consume solid food at around 6 months of age and are usually fully-weaned one year later. According to SeaWorld, bottlenose dolphins usually consume around four or five percent of their own total weight in food every day. However, bottlenose dolphins can consume around eight percent of their own body weight when they are nursing young.