Bottlenose Dolphins

Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops Truncatus) are very beautiful mammals to see and study. If you have ever seen a Bottlenose Dolphin up close you may have been curious about the dolphin’s age, and how much a Bottlenose Dolphin may weigh. The Bottlenose dolphin can swim anywhere from 5 to 12 kilometers per hour; although, they can reach a high of 32 kilometers. Also, a Bottlenose dolphin can stay under water for fifteen minutes at a time. The average human being cannot stay under water longer than one to five minutes before returning to the surface for air. Why was research done? The study was done to explore the potential relationships between the health of a dolphin, and the environments that they live in. In this particular study, I will be discussing
The ages between the two sites were very significant. The t-test results indicated that of seventy-one dolphins captured from estuary they were older than the ninety-four dolphins captured from the lagoon. Most of the dolphins under the age of ten were captured from the lagoon. The dolphins under the age of ten were not considered to be fully mature. The asymptotic growth referred to as the Gompertz model also justified the body measurements of length, mass, and girth. Both female groups from each site including one group of male dolphins from the estuary had gradual growth until the age of ten. Then they declined until the asymptote was reached. The male dolphins from each site had similar asymptotes, whereas the female dolphins from the estuary had a higher asymptote, than the dolphins from the Lagoon. At both sites, it was a frequent growth spurt during there early years of life. There were no significant variations between the BMI, girth, and the mass from either set of dolphins from either site. In both sites the BMI of the male dolphins was extremely higher than the females from either site. The girth from both sexes was not too much of a difference, it was nearly the same for both males and female dolphins. The dolphins from the north seemed to have a smaller mass than the dolphins found in the south. It is said that most dolphins hit their growth spurt around sexual maturity while they are still young. The results conclude that dolphins grow and age similarly, even if they are not in the same vicinity. Some may grow faster than others, but they all initially grow and develop vigorously until the age of ten. Then, they will start to decline until asymptote is reached, no matter if they are from the lagoon or the estuary or any other place that has bottlenose