Dolphin Behavior

Social Structure: Bottle-nose dolphins live in groups called pods. A pod is a coherent long-term social unit. The size of a pod varies significantly with its composition. On the west coast of Florida, mean pod size is aboout seven animals.In the wild, pod composition and structure are based largely on age, sex, and reproductive condition. In general, size of pods tend to increase with water depth and openness of habitat. This may correlated with foraging strategies and protection.

Several pods may join temporarily (for several minutes or hours) to form larger groups called herds or aggregations. Up to several hundred animals have been observed traveling in one herd. There are certain factors that tend to cause a pod to either draw together or to disperse somewhat. Factors that tend toward cohesion include protection, fright, and familial associations. Factors that tend toward dispersion include alertness, aggression, and feeding.

Bottle-nose dolphin's social behavior and organization are one of the most complex and advanced in the animal kingdom. There appears to be a dominant dolphin that leads the pod. Dominance is established among males in a series of behaviors such as tail slapping.
Social Behavior: Those bottle-nose dolphins who are in a pod have established strong social bonds. It appears that certain animals prefer association with each other and recognize each other after periods of separation. Mother-calf bonds are long-lasting; a calf typically stays with its mother three to six years or more. Adult male pair bonds are strong and long-lasting. Male pairs often engage in a number of cooperative behaviors.; Bottle-nose dolphins establish and maintain dominance by biting, chasing, jaw-clapping, and smacking their tails on the water. Dolphins often show aggression by scratching one another with their teeth, leaving superficial lacerations that soon heal. Traces of light parallel stripes remain on the skin of the dolphin. These marks have been seen in virtually all species of dolphins. Dolphins also show aggression by emitting bubble clouds from their blowholes.; During courtship, dolphins engage in head-butting and tooth-scratching. Bottle-nose dolphins often hunt together. (see: Methods of collecting food.) Dolphins have been observed frequently stroking each other with their flippers, hence, indicating that they require physical contact much like humans.
Individual Behavior: Dolphins frequently ride on the bow waves or the stern wakes of boats. This is probably adapted from the natural behavior of riding ocean swells, the wakes of large whales, or a mother dolphin's "slip stream" (hydrodynamic wake). Dolphins have been seen jumping as high as 4.9 meters from the surface of the water and landing on their backs or sides, in a behavior called a breach or breaching.; Bottle-nose dolphins are playful and intellignet, they are easily trained to perform complex tricks and tasks (see: Dolphin Intelligence). Both young and old dolphins chase one another, carry objects around, toss seaweed to one another, and use objects to solicit interaction. Such activity may be practice for catching food. Dolphins spend a large part of their day looking for food, or actually feeding. This is part of their daily activity cycle. Bottle-nose dolphins are active to some degree both day and night. Social behavior comprises a major portion of a dolphin's daily activities. Feeding usually peaks in early morning and late afternoon.
Interaction with other species: Bottle-nose dolphins have been seen in groups of toothed whales such as pilot whales, spinner dolphins, spotted dolphins, and rough-toothed dolphins. They have been seen riding pressure waves of gray whales, humpback whales, and right whales. They often force Pacific white-sided dolphins away from prime spots in the waves.; Dolphins respond to sharks with tolerance, avoidance, and aggression. Their natural enemies are sharks and killer whales. Tiger sharks elicit the strongest responses from dolphins. Dolphins have been observed attacking, and sometimes killing, sharks in the wild. Some dolphins in the wild regularly solicit attention, such as touching and feeding, from humans.Dolphins have defined home ranges, an area in which they will roam and feed. Though dolphins live in small pods, these pods can be quite fluid and dolphins can be seen interacting with dolphins from other pods from time to time.
Protection and Care: If another bottle-nose dolphin is drowning, other dolphins will come to it's aid, supporting it with their bodies so it's blowhole is above the water allowing it to breathe. Large adult males often roam the periphery of a pod, and may afford some protection against predators.; Scouting behavior has been observed in bottle-nose dolphins. An individual may investigate novel objects or unfamiliar territories and "report" back to the pod. As stated before, bottle-nose dolphins may aid ill or injured pod mates. They may stand by and vocalize, or they may physically support the animal at the surface so it can breathe.
(Wild Dolphins)