Where Do Bottlenose Dolphins Live?

Dolphins are beloved creatures. Visitors to places such as SeaWorld see dolphins as playful and funny. They perform their antics and tricks for the enthralled crowds. Dolphins have a very high intelligence relative to other species. The dolphin’s brain and neural transmitters rank right between a chimpanzee and a gorilla. They rapidly learn tricks and tasks and are even able to use tools to accomplish activities. Most of those interested in dolphins, realize that they are mammals and not fish. You may also know that their tails are the real powerhouse of their speed and agility. Much like whales, their tales are flat instead of vertical. They also have a language all their own, whereby they can communicate with one another. It consists of clicks and whistles they make with their blowhole.

The common bottlenose dolphin is found in most parts of the world, so there isn't necessarily just one answer to the question of where do bottlenose dolphins live. They are found in temperate to tropical waters all over the earth, as long as the surface water temperature stays between 50 and 90 degrees.

• They inhabit the Pacific Ocean from the waters north of Japan to those as far south as Australia.
• On the eastern side of the Pacific, they can be found from the coastal water of southern California to waters as far south as Chile.
• They live in the Atlantic Ocean in the regions from Nova Scotia to Patagonia on the west and on the east from Norway to the southern tip of Africa.
• Smaller bodies of water also have their share of the friendly dolphins.
• Dolphins have been sited in the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea.
• Some dolphins even have been found in the mouths of the Amazon and the Ganges River in India. 

The Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin have been found to inhabit the water of the Indian Ocean from Indonesia to Australia to the tip of Africa. They are also found in the Red Sea and in the sub-tropical and tropical waters of the Pacific.

The Bottlenose Dolphin

There are many species of dolphins, and the bottlenose dolphin is one of the most common. There are actually two distinct species in this classification. The first is the common bottlenose dolphin and the second is the Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin. The main difference between the two is where they are found.

Dolphin Ecotypes

There are two ecotypes that dolphins find acceptable. The dolphins live both in coastal water and in open offshore waters. The coastal dolphins tend to be smaller than those that live in the open waters and limit their ecosystem to within approximately five miles offshore. Open water dolphins inhabit the oceans beginning at about 21 miles. 

Dolphins use echolocation to find objects and to locate their prey. The technique of echolocation is accomplished by using the clicking sounds that are emitted by passing air through their blowhole. The location of the object is found by comparing the time it takes for a click sent out to return and be sensed. 

Dolphins and Man

Dolphins have been used in television shows, such as Flipper, and for other entertainment performing at shows in aquariums. They are very human friendly mammals. They are very adaptable and trainable, as is evidenced by their use by the U.S. Navy and Russian Navy.  Fortunately, it has been reported by various researchers that the number of bottlenose are not anywhere near extinction.

Other beneficial behavior by dolphins towards humans includes the protective nature the dolphins show towards SCUBA divers and swimmers in the presence of sharks.

Dolphins have been known to work synergistically with fishermen. They will round up a school of fish and drive them towards the waiting nets of anglers. The anglers benefit by obtaining a larger catch and the bottlenoses benefit by being allowed to eat the fish that escape from the nets.

Even in the face of the friendliness of bottlenose dolphins, man is still a hazard to them. Many tuna fishers still use methods that endanger the dolphins by catching them in the tuna nets and killing them.