http://www.seaworld.org/infobooks/Bottlenose/home.html
The Seaworld/Busch Gardens database gives tons of information on the animals found in these parks. I started with the bottlenose Dolphin, but couldn’t stop reading and kept going through the blue Whale! The aim of this database is to educate guests and students about the ecology, environment, and conservation of marine animals. The scientific name, starting with the order is gien, then physical characteristics, habitat, environment, care and feeding of the young, echolocation, causes of death, and distribution are all defined in corresponding sections.
Bottlenose Dolphins are in the same scientific family as common dolphins, Killer Whales, and False Killer Whales. They are found all over the world, from the south pacific all the way north to Monteray, California in the west, and from Cape Cod to the tip of the Carribean in the East. They are also found near Norway and in the mediterranian. There is a coastal type and an offshore type. Bottlenose Dolphins on average are about eight to nine feet long and weight from 400 to 500 pounds. In warmer water, they will get quite a bit larger, weighing almost a thousand pounds and gaining another few feet in length.
Males are longer then females. Typical colouration is a grey, commonly darker on top and lighter on the bottom. This helps the dolphin blend into his surroundings. The pectoral fins are adaptations of forelimbs and resemble those of humans except for the adaptations. Dolphins move through the water by moving their flukes, or tails, up and down. The dorsal fin may act as a keel, helping the dolphin stay straight in the water. Dolphins have 76 to 98 teeth. The teeth are designed for grasping, not chewing. Breathing is done through the blowhole, which is on top of the head. Dolphins have twice as many nerves in the ear as humans. The eyesight of Dolphins is binocular in and out of the water, and might be better then that of humans. They have almost no sense of smell, but do have developed taste buds and strongly prefer certain kinds of fish….