Bottlenose Dolphin

About the Bottlenose Dolphin

The Bottlenose Dolphin is the familiar gray dolphin of the Texas coast - large, robust, and endlessly watchable, with the short "bottle" snout and built-in smile that made the species famous. Adults run eight to twelve feet, and the tall curved dorsal fin slicing the surface is often the first thing you see.

Bottlenose Dolphins are intensely social and clever hunters, working in coordinated groups to herd fish against shorelines and sandbars, and famously trailing shrimp boats for an easy meal. In the passes and ship channels they ride bow wakes and surf boat swells, apparently for the fun of it - behavior that puts them close enough for portraits without any effort on the photographer's part.

In Texas, Bottlenose Dolphins are year-round residents of the bays, passes, and nearshore Gulf, and no boat trip out of Port Aransas or Galveston feels complete without them. They are a protected marine mammal in U.S. waters, so boats keep a respectful distance.