They have excellent eyesight and a well-developed sense of hearing. The Atlantic bottle-nosed dolphin is found along the Atlantic coast of the United States from Cape Cod through the Gulf of Mexico. Dolphins live in groups of two to 15 individuals that are called pods. Pods often consist of several mature females, their offspring, large adult males and several adolescent males and females that usually swim at the fringe of the group. Behavioral studies suggest that these animals establish strong social bonds and recognize each other after periods of separations.
Dolphins are predators and eat a wide variety of fishes, squids and crustaceans.
At the Zoo, they are fed herring, mackerel, smelt and capelin. Bottle-nosed dolphins produce clicks and sounds that resemble moans, whistles, trills, grunts, squeaks and creaking doors. The sounds are produced by movements of air in the nasal passages in the blowhole region. A thick muscular flap covering the blowhole can be altered to produce sounds, but dolphins do not need to expel air from the blowhole to vocalize. In addition, dolphins can move air through their larynx to make whistle-like sounds.