Bottlenose Dolphin

Habitat: Coasts, estuaries, lagoons, reef passes, and open ocean; the great generalist of the dolphin family

Verspreidingsgebied: Worldwide in temperate and tropical seas; the encounters divers plan around are at Rangiroa's pass, Egypt's northern Red Sea reefs, and the Azores

Gedrag: Big-brained, socially fluid, and boldly investigative. Most wild bottlenose ignore divers after a look; a famous few populations choose interaction: Rangiroa's pass residents approach divers mid-drift, holding eye contact and sometimes soliciting a slow parallel swim. Bow-riding is the species' oldest human game.

Dieet: Fish and squid, hunted cooperatively with tactics invented locally: mud rings, strand-feeding, sponge tools in one Australian bay

Grootte: doorgaans rond 2.8 m; gedocumenteerd tot 3.8 m (body length; coastal animals run smaller than offshore ones, and the Indo-Pacific bottlenose (T. aduncus) is smaller again).

Let the dolphins initiate and end contact, no touching or grabbing even when solicited, no feeding ever, and keep swim-with activities to regulated programs. At Rangiroa, follow the guides' drift line and let the residents come.

Least Concern globally; local coastal populations face bycatch, pollution, and disturbance, and the species' charisma sustains both good regulation and bad captivity. Choose wild, managed encounters.