Indo-Pacific Bottlenose Dolphin Red Sea, Egypt

This is an Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops aduncus). Until 1998, all bottlenose dolphins were thought to be the same. Today they are divided into three distinct species, the common bottlenose, Berrunan dolphin, and Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin. This is an Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin, which can be distinguished by its more slender body, a greater number of teeth (23-29) on each side of the jaw, and spots on its belly. These air-breathing mammals have a diet consisting of small fish and squid, they can grow to 8.5 feet in length, and weigh upwards of 500 pounds. Like other dolphins, they use echolocation or bio-sonar to "see" in low-visibility water. We were super lucky to swim with this wild dolphin and his friends in the Red Sea. Read more in our post, Scuba diving the Red Sea Aboard the Blue Force 3 Liveaboard, Egypt.