AnimalID

Name

5402

Bottlenose Dolphin

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Origin:

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RequiresResearch:

IsClimber:

IsJumper:

General Information

Building an Exhibit

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Description:

The bottlenose dolphin is one of the most well known marine mammals. With their friendly and curious nature and their adaptability to captivity, these animals have a long relationship with humans. Tursiops truncatus (more commonly known as Bottlenose Dolphins) are cetaceans belonging to the suborder Odontoceti. The largest of the oceanic Dolphins, they live up to 30 years in many of the coastal waters of the world, from cold temperate to tropical waters.Although the largest Bottlenose Dolphins are twelve feet long and weigh 1400 pounds, most are significantly smaller. These animals are characterized by a long beak-like snout, a pair of broad flippers which are slightly pointed, a large, rounded melon on their heads, and the dolphin "smile"--really caused by the arrangement of facial muscles and not by any emotional state. This smile contains over fifty sharp conical teeth, used to grab food. They aren’t needed for chewing, since the bottlenose dolphin swallows its food whole.

A single blowhole is the dolphin’s only method of respiration. Typically, a bottlenose dolphin will surface every two minutes for air, although they can go longer without breathing during their deepest dives (of up to 1,000 feet or more). The melon on the dolphin’s head is mainly made up of fatty tissue and is part of the animal’s hearing apparatus. The Dolphin’s small outer ear is primarily used for hearing when the head is above water--underwater sound is carried through the melon.

Sound is extremely important to the bottlenose dolphin, since they use echolocation to navigate. To echolocate off a target, a Dolphin bounces sound--usually a click--off a distant target and uses the echo to figure out where the target is. That target can be prey, a predator, or an obstacle. Sound is also important in dolphin communications. They use single pitched "whistles" to locate each other and broadcast their location. This is especially important if a baby dolphin becomes separated from its mother.

Dolphins are extremely social animals. Pods of two to 12 dolphins make up family units, although the makeup of these groups can change over time. Some dolphins seem to live without a pod, never interacting with other dolphins. No one knows if these dolphins leave by choice or are forced out. Young male dolphins typically leave their mother’s pod at puberty, forming a new group with other young males. These male dolphins will then establish dominance within their new groups. The most dominant animals get the first choice of mates and first chance to eat when food is discovered. In their struggles for dominance, male dolphins will engage in chasing, ramming, biting and slapping.

Despite its many teeth, a dolphin’s prey is small enough to swallow whole. Typical animals in a bottlenose dolphin diet include small fish, shrimp, eels, catfish, mullet, and squid. Like many other cetaceans, dolphins are cooperative hunters, herding fish and trapping them between pod members. Dolphin pods can even drive schools of fish onto mud flats where pod members can temporarily strand themselves to catch them. Dolphins have even been known to help humans herd a school of fish for mutual benefit. Since hunting techniques seem to vary greatly between pods of dolphins, scientists think that adult dolphins teach the young how to hunt starting at a very early age.

There is no doubt that dolphins are highly intelligent animals. Captive dolphins can learn to understand a language of hand signals including basic grammatical ideas such as nouns and verbs. Dolphins in captivity are easily trained to execute simple tasks for humans and to perform for their entertainment. The complexities of dolphin behavior in the wild, however, remain a mystery.

Attractiveness Adult:

Attractiveness Young:

Initial Happiness:

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Captivity:

Crowd:

CrowdHappiness Change:

ClimbsCliffs:

General Information

Building an Exhibit

The Life Cycle

Who do they like to live with and eat?

To build a good animal exhibit you need to ask a few questions: (click them for the answers)

Which tank wall is suitable for this animal?     Remember that all tanks need a tank filter!

How big should the exhibit be and what Depth should the tank be?

What foliage should be used?

What rocks should be used?

What shelter does the animal need?

What toy does the animal like?

Does this animal perform in a show?

Yes

TankWallName

Purchase Cost

See Through

Height

Strength

Life

Cost Effective

Concrete Edge and Glass

$125

Yes

3

500

13

10.4

Atlantean Tank Wall

$125

Yes

3

500

13

10.4

Solid Concrete

$125

No

3

500

13

10.4

Black Bar and Glass

$130

Yes

3

500

13

10.0

General Information

Building an Exhibit

The Life Cycle

Who do they like to live with and eat?

Animal Density

Min

Number of Animals/Exhibit

Max

20

2

6

Terrain Name

Value

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Rocks

Foliage

Exhibit Size

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Building an Exhibit

The Life Cycle

Who do they like to live with and eat?

ID

Value

TreeName

Foliage Effect

Cost/ Square

Cost Effective

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Building an Exhibit

The Life Cycle

Who do they like to live with and eat?

ID

Value

RockName

Size X

Size Y

Rock

Rock Effect

Purchase Cost

Cost Effective

General Information

Building an Exhibit

The Life Cycle

Who do they like to live with and eat?

Shelter ID

Shelter Name

Shelter Value

Shelter Effect

Purchase Cost

Capacity

none

General Information

Building an Exhibit

The Life Cycle

Who do they like to live with and eat?

ToyID

ToyName

ToyValue

PurchaseCost

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The Life Cycle

Who do they like to live with and eat?

ReproductionChance:

SickChance:

ReproductionInterval(months):

SickChange:

HappyReproduceThreshold:

DeathChance:

Offspring:

TimeDeath(months):

10

BabyToAdult(months):

SkipTrickHappiness:

50

SkipTrickChance:

10

SalinityChange:

SalinityHealthChange:

PooWaterImpact:

MurkyWaterThreshold:

MurkyWaterChange:

MurkyWaterHealthChange:

VeryMurkyWaterThreshold:

ExtremelyMurkyWaterThreshold

VeryMurkyWaterChange:

ExtremelyMurkyWaterChange

VeryMurkyWaterHealthChange:

ExtremelyMurkyWaterHealthChange:

General Information

Building an Exhibit

The Life Cycle

Who do they like to live with and eat?

Compatible Animals

Prey Animals

Mermaid

10

KeeperFoodType:

Fish

General Information

Building an Exhibit

The Life Cycle

Who do they like to live with and eat?