Species: Tursiops truncatus

Bottlenose Dolphin
Species

    Articles:

    How eDNA is changing the way scientists track species in Puget Sound

    Scientists can now identify the presence of species just by testing the water for traces of DNA. The relatively new technique is being compared to the invention of the telescope or the microscope as a significant new tool for understanding ecosystems like Puget Sound. It could be a revolution for tracking the movements of all kinds of species, from salmon and killer whales to invasive green crabs.

    Image of dark blue ocean water surface overlaid with a light blue double helix graphic.
    The orca docs: Can medical interventions help?

    This three-part series explores opportunities and challenges of using medical interventions to save Puget Sound's southern resident orcas from extinction. Part 1 looks at how scientists might treat endangered southern resident orcas that face starvation and risks of disease; Part 2 considers how veterinarians have intervened with other animals in the wild, and how this might apply to orcas in Puget Sound; and Part 3 explores a federally approved vaccination program designed to ward of a deadly virus among endangered Hawaiian monk seals.

    Clockwise from top left: 1) Mountain gorillas. Photo: Andries3 (CC BY-NC 2.0) https://www.flickr.com/photos/andriesoudshoorn 2) J pod Southern resident orcas – Photo: Miles Ritter (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) https://www.flickr.com/photos/mrmritter/42903242165 3) Scientists collect orca breath samples. Photo: Pete Schroeder 4) Hawaiian monk seal. Photo: Karen Bryan/Hawaiian Institute of Marine Biology (CC BY-NC 2.0) https://www.flickr.com/photos/papahanaumokuakea/38322932854
    Wildlife rescues may inform orca strategies

    As the plight of Puget Sound’s southern resident orcas becomes increasingly desperate, with the population dropping from 98 to 75 in just 22 years, scientists are weighing the options of medical intervention. In part two of our two-part series The Orca Docs we look at how veterinarians have intervened with other animals in the wild, and how this might apply to the situation here in Puget Sound. [Part one, "When should medical experts intervene to save a killer whale?" is also available.]

    Left: mountain gorillas. Photo: Andries3 (CC BY-NC 2.0) https://www.flickr.com/photos/andriesoudshoorn. Right: J pod southern resident orcas – Photo: Miles Ritter (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) https://www.flickr.com/photos/mrmritter/42903242165
    When should medical experts intervene to save a killer whale?

    The death of a young female orca in September has sparked a discussion of how and whether scientists should step in with medical care for distressed animals in the wild. Medical intervention has become routine for some endangered mammals, but scientists say Puget Sound’s resident orcas present a series of unique challenges and ethical questions. In part one of our two-part series The Orca Docs we look at how scientists are preparing to treat endangered southern resident orcas that face starvation and risks of disease.

    Scientists in a boat use a long pole to capture the breath of an orca. Photo: Pete Schroeder
    Marine mammals from distant places visit Puget Sound

    The reasons for the surprise visits are unknown, but changes in environmental conditions here or elsewhere are one possibility.

    Yukusam the sperm whale in Haro Strait off of Turn Point Lighthouse, Stuart Island, WA. March 2018. Photo: Copyright Jeff Friedman, Maya's Legacy Whale Watching (used with permission) http://sanjuanislandwhalewatch.com/first-ever-sperm-whale-san-juan-islands/
    Kingdom
    Animalia
    Phylum
    Craniata
    Class

    Mammalia

    Order

    Cetacea

    Family

    Delphinidae

    Genus

    Tursiops

    Classification
    Other Global Common Names
    Delfín Hocico de Botella - dauphin à gros nez - grand dauphin - grand dauphin commun
    Informal Taxonomy
    Animals, Vertebrates - Mammals - Whales and Dolphins
    Formal Taxonomy
    Animalia - Craniata - Mammalia - Cetacea - Delphinidae - Tursiops - (see Mead and Brownell, in Wilson and Reeder 1993). See IUCN (1991) for further discussion of taxonomy.
    Habitat Type Description
    Marine
    Migration
    false - true - true - Makes regular movements between inshore and offshore areas, and for distances up to 100 km linearly along coast. Much larger movements may occur (Wells et al. 1999), but whether these constitute migrations is uncertain.
    Non-migrant
    false
    Locally Migrant
    true
    Food Comments
    Very opportunistic feeder; prefers fishes (e.g., mullet), squid, crustaceans, and cephalopods. Sometimes drives fish ashore and comes out of the water in pursuit. Foraging by plunging the head into sandy bottoms has been observed in the Bahamas (Rossbach and Herzing 1997).
    Reproduction Comments
    Gestation lasts about 12 months. Produces one young every 2-6 years. Young are closely tended by adults for 1st several months, weaned in 12-18 months or more. Males are sexually mature in 8-12 years, females in 5-12 years; average age of sexual maturity is around 11-12 years; a few live up to at least 40 (males) to 50 (females) years (Leatherwood and Reeves 1983, IUCN 1991).
    Ecology Comments
    Group size usually less than 10 (coastal form) or 25 (offshore form), though herds of several hundred sometimes are reported offshore. Individuals may segregate by age and sex. <br><br>Coastal form apparently has limited home range along segment of coast; for example, resident dolphins in a South Carolina estuary had home ranges over four years that averaged 51.3 square kilometers (95% adaptive kernel method; Gubbins 2002). However, in the Southern California Bight, dolphins are highly mobile within a relatively narrow coastal zone, extending from at least Santa Barbara to Ensenada, Mexico (Defran et al. 1999). Offshore form apparently is less restricted in movements and may move long distances over deep water (e.g., see Wells et al. 1999). <br><br>In Florida, mean mortality rate was 19% in first year, up to 3.8% annually thereafter (see IUCN 1991).
    Length
    3700
    Weight
    650
    NatureServe Global Status Rank
    G5
    Global Status Last Reviewed
    1996-11-15
    Global Status Last Changed
    1996-11-15
    Conservation Status Map
    <img src="http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/servlet/GetMapGif?US.DE=__&US.DC=SH&US.FL=SNR&US.GA=__&US.HI=__&US.LA=S4&US.MD=__&US.MA=S2&US.MS=S4&US.NJ=S3&US.NY=S3&US.NC=__&US.SC=S4&US.TX=S2&US.VA=__" alt="Conservation Status Map" style="width: 475px; height: auto;" />
    Global Range
    H - >2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles) - H - Worldwide distribution primarily in coastal and inshore areas of tropical, subtropical, and temperate regions; most common near shore, but occurs also pelagically in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean and some other areas; generally not poleward of 45 degrees latitude except off northwestern Europe (Jefferson et al. 1993).
    Global Range Code
    H
    Global Range Description
    >2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)
    ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.100306