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Description: ATLANTIC BOTTLENOSE DOLPHINS Tursiops truncatus Dolphins belong to a scientific order of marine mammals called Cetaceans. The 2 types of Cetaceans are baleen whales and toothed whales. Baleen whales have 2 blowholes, have baleen plates instead of teeth, and include the larger whales such as the blue whale. Toothed whales have 1 blowhole, have teeth, and include species such as the dolphin, porpoise, sperm whale, and pilot whale. Dolphins and porpoises are often confused with one another but belong to 2 separate scientific families of toothed whales. Porpoises are smaller, darker, live in deeper and cooler water, do not have a pronounced beak or rostrum, and have spade shaped teeth. There are 36 species in the dolphin family. The following information applies to Atlantic bottlenose dolphin. Atlantic bottlenose dolphins inhabit temperate, coastal waters around the world. They can live into their forties, can reach sizes up to 10 feet long and 600 pounds, and are active predators who feed on small, schooling fish. Atlantic bottlenose dolphins reach sexual maturity between ages 5 to 12. Females have a mammary slit on either side of the genital slit. Calves are born after a 12-month gestation, are 3 feet long and 30 pounds at birth, nurse for 2 to 4 years, and begin to eat fish at a few months of age. The bottlenose or rostrum is actually the jawbones and is used to touch and push. Their 88 cone shaped teeth are for grasping and tearing food, not chewing. The blowhole on top of the dolphin’s head is a nose from which they breathe twice/minute. They can hold their breath for 8 minutes. Vocalizations are produced in the blowhole, not the throat. The pectoral fins on the dolphin’s side are used for steering and have all of the bones of a land animal’s forelimbs. The dorsal fin on the dolphin’s back is for balance and is made of a dense, fibrous connective tissue. The peduncle is the muscular area that powers the flukes or tail. Atlantic bottlenose dolphins can swim up to 17 miles/hour. Atlantic bottlenose dolphins see well above and below the water, hear well, especially below the water, use echolocation to navigate and find prey, and have no sense of smell.