What kind of dolphins are in florida

There are a few things visitors expect to see when they come to Florida. Dolphins are certainly one of them. The Space Coast is home to the bottlenose dolphin. The bottlenose dolphin is in the Delphinidae family, which has three different species — the Indo-Pacific Bottlenose, the Burrunan, and the Common Bottlenose, also known as the Atlantic Bottlenose. Here on the Space Coast, you will see the Atlantic Bottlenose dolphin.

The common bottlenose is typically what you will see at marine parks like Sea World or featured in television and movies. Winter was later rescued and then cared for by the Clearwater Marine Aquarium and eventually given a prosthetic tail. She even starred in the feature film.

The common bottlenose dolphin can range from six to twelve feet and weigh anywhere between and 1, pounds. Usually they travel in groups called pods of ten to twenty-five dolphins, and can swim up to 20 miles per hour. Common bottlenose dolphin use whistles, clicks, squeals, and other sounds to communicate with one another. Scientists have determined that each dolphin creates its own distinctive high-pitched whistle. They have adopted this type of sleeping style for survival purposes.

This type of sleep enables dolphins muscles to exert while they are sleeping which helps regulate their body temperature if the water is cold as they are warm-blooded creatures. Dolphins prefer warmer, tropical climates. These magnificent creatures enjoy the typically warm water of the Gulf of Mexico. They thrive best in temperatures degrees Fahrenheit. While dolphins do not have a migration pattern, they will seek warmer waters if it gets too cold. Dolphins are not currently endangered, but Florida law strictly prohibits the feeding of or harassment of dolphins under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

You may not do anything to disrupt their natural behavior according to this law. This law is to protect dolphins as well as humans. Also, as with any wild animal, we do not want them to associate humans with food, or become reliant on humans and incapable to catching their own food. If you are interested to learn more about dolphins and see them in the wild, we have the information you are looking for. Dolphins often swim and feed in groups, called pods.

Visualize Tampa Bay sea level rise and changes to coastal habitats and the resulting "blue carbon" benefits. Be informed about important water-related news with implications in Hillsborough County and elsewhere. View the geographic distribution and variability of rainfall amounts, access statistical rainfall summaries, or download rainfall data.

Find information about habitat-enhancement projects in the Tampa Bay watershed from to the present. Bottlenose dolphins are common along the coast of Florida. During the spring and summer, mothers and calves can be found in the shallow waters of the bays and estuaries where they enjoy pinfish, pigfish and striped mullet. Additionally, the newborns are safer in the shallow coastal waters away from such predators as adult Bull Sharks.

In the fall and winter, dolphins are more frequently found in the passes and along shorelines. Long-term studies by the Sarasota Dolphin Research Program, initiated by Mote Marine Laboratory in , and continuing today in conjunction with the Chicago Zoological Society, are monitoring a resident community of four generations of dolphins in Sarasota Bay. Approximately identifiable dolphins use the bay regularly.

Some of the individuals are more than 50 years old, and have spent most if not all of their lives in the bay. Other communities reside in the waters to the north, south, and offshore of Sarasota Bay. The dolphins of Sarasota Bay face a variety of threats from human activities, including disturbance and collisions from boat traffic, recreational fishing gear, crab traps, human feeding of dolphins, humans swimming with dolphins, habitat alteration through loss of mangrove fringing forests and seagrass loss, and pollution.

Dolphins have a reputation for being friendly, but they are really wild animals who should be treated with caution and respect.