Bottlenose dolphins travel on their own or in groups up to 50 individuals. They are very fast animals that love to bow ride in the wake of ships. They are capable of impressive acrobatics, leaping high out of the water and somersaulting. Bottlenose dolphins are very sociable animals and are often seen with other dolphin’s particularly white-beaked dolphins in the North Sea.

Bottlenose dolphins have a global distribution in temperate and tropical seas. They occur in distinct populations both coastal and offshore, with the offshore animals being slightly larger in size. Coastal populations can be spotted in all European waters.

The bottlenose dolphin is one of two cetacean species that are protected under the EU Habitats Directive. Around the UK and Ireland four Special Areas of Conservation (SAC’s) have already been designated to protect the bottlenose dolphin. All of these SACs are home to what are believed are semi-resident bottlenose dolphin populations.

A major threat to bottlenose dolphins, as well as other dolphins is habitat degradation through increased pollution, rubbish, sewage outflow and sedimentation in marine waters. Coastal bottlenose dolphin populations are particularly vulnerable to this living in such close proximity to the shoreline. Bottlenose dolphins are the classic aquarium species creating a demand for them to be taken from the wild, this is particularly the case in Japan where bottlenose dolphins are also being hunted. For many of the coastal populations fisheries also pose a threat through entanglement.

See Full Screen