clearwater marine aquarium

RESCUED DOLPHINS, LIVE WEBCAM


More info: The most common dolphins in Florida waters are the bottlenose dolphin.

Bottlenose dolphins are light to dark grey over their dorsal surface, fading into a white or cream along their ventral region. It has a short, beak-like snout with a slightly longer lower jaw than upper jaw and has a blowhole on the top of its head.

Bottlenose dolphins feed mostly on fish such as spot, croakers, menhaden and silver perch, but will also eat shrimp, squid, crabs and other invertebrates.

The biggest predators of dolphins are sharks, such as the bull shark. Humans are a threat to dolphins due to pollution and recreational and commercial fishing gear.

Dolphins are highly intelligent with a large brain to body mass ratio, second only to humans and similar to apes. This level of intelligence is a big reason why there’s been so much interaction between dolphins and humans. They have the ability to mimic, use artificial language, categorize objects and recognize themselves. Their emotional intelligence also makes them playful when interacting with humans and each other.