Life Span of Dolphins
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Life of a dolphin depends on various factors within their day to day activities and their current home or place of residence.
- Let's look at the following categories to determine how a dolphin's life span is measured.
- Let's look at the following categories to determine how a dolphin's life span is measured.
- Average age of a dolphin
- Diseases and Parasites
- As in any animal population, a variety of diseases and parasites can be responsible for dolphin deaths. Dolphins may suffer from viral, bacterial, and fungal infections. In addition, they may develop stomach ulcers, skin diseases, tumors, heart disease, urogenital disorders, and respiratory disorders. Parasites that typically affect dolphins include tapeworms, flukes, and roundworms.
- Predators
- Certain large shark species are predators of bottle-nose dolphins. Dolphins remains are often found in the stomachs of tiger sharks, dusky sharks, and bull sharks. Killer whales may also occasionally prey on bottle-nose dolphins, but documented cases are rare.
- A bottle-nose dolphin's main predators are killer whales, sharks and unfortunately man, through direct killing for food, netting, population, and fishing. Humans have depleted the dolphins food source by over-fishing. Dolphins can gang up on a shark and kill it by ramming the shark's gills with their snout. Dolphins will work together in time of danger. Mature dolphins will expose themselves to danger to protect the young. Dolphins have been known to stay with family and friends that become trapped in nets.
(Dolphins--The Oracles of the Sea)
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| Dolphin Behavior | | Dolphin Poem | | Pictures | | Fun Facts | | Endangered Dolphins | | E-mail | - A bottle-nose dolphin's main predators are killer whales, sharks and unfortunately man, through direct killing for food, netting, population, and fishing. Humans have depleted the dolphins food source by over-fishing. Dolphins can gang up on a shark and kill it by ramming the shark's gills with their snout. Dolphins will work together in time of danger. Mature dolphins will expose themselves to danger to protect the young. Dolphins have been known to stay with family and friends that become trapped in nets.
A bottle-nose
dolphin's average life span is probably 20 or less. They have lived
as long as 48 years. Aged is estimated
by examining a sliced section of a tooth and counting the layers.