dolphin information by the numbers

I don’t know exact statistics on the dolphins here at the Dolphin Bay, Bocas del Toro, but the following numbers related to all types of dolphins, including Bottlenose dolphins, are interesting nonetheless.

The family of dolphins (Delphinidae) consists of 32 different species.

Most dolphin species are about 6 ft in length, males averaging 4 to 8 in longer than females. The largest is the killer whale, which can be 20 - 23ft long and weigh between 8000-10000lbs.

The smallest dolphin species is the Buffeo, found in the Amazon River. These dolphins rarely grow over 4 ft in length and 67 lbs.

Food consumption is about 65 lb a day for an individual of about 8 ft in length and 220 lb.

Most dolphin species tested are capable of sustained swimming speeds of up to 18.6 mph. Jumping at these speeds can propel a dolphin 30 ft or more. Their normal “cruise speed” is about 23 to 25 mph.

Male dolphins reach sexual maturity at about 10 years. Females reach sexual maturity at between 5-10 years.

A female dolphin gestation period for her baby dolphin (calf) is 11-12 months.

baby dolphin nursing may continue for as long as 12 to 18 months after birth, and baby dolphin will stay with their mothers for 3-6 years learning how to catch fish and other important tasks.

Bottlenose dolphins give birth about once every 2-4 years.

There are 18-26 pairs of sharp, conical teeth in each side of the bottle nose dolphin jaw.

In many dolphin species, schools of up to 1,000 travel together, while some species, such as the bottle-nose dolphin, tend to be found in smaller groups of less than 100.

There are 32 species of oceanic dolphins (Delphinidae family) and 6 porpoise species (Phocoenidae family). There are 5 river dolphin species found in 5 different rivers.

Man is the greatest predator to the dolphin, more than 100,000 dolphins die each year because of man.

The average life expectancy for a bottle-nose dolphin is about 25 years. The maximum age is more than 40 years

Dolphins can swim up to 40 km/hr, due to special structures in the skin that reduce turbulence.

The dolphin’s optimum swimming speed is about 8 km/hr. Dolphins sleep about 8 hours a day which would leave 16 hours for travel. This means they can travel up to 128 km per day. Actual travel may vary due to sea and traffic conditions.

The dolphin is capable of diving for up to 20 minutes at 300 meters, this is to be considered as maximum for a bottle-nose dolphin although in some experiments they have dove to about 500 meters.

Bottle-nose dolphins consume approximately 8-15 kgs (15-33 lbs.) per day and Orcas approximately 45 kgs (100 lbs.) per day

The common dolphin can hear sounds upwards of 150 KHz but generally produce sounds ranging from 1.5 to 11.0 KHZ.

Fossil remains have been found of dolphin-like animals that lived in the sea 45 million years ago.