Common bottlenose dolphin

The bottlenose dolphin, the most coastal cetacean species in the Mediterranean Sea, is the second largest dolphin species regularly occurring in the Greek Seas after the Risso’s dolphin, and is present in most or all portions of the Greek Seas. It is presumably the most familiar of the small cetaceans because of its coastal occurrence and its prevalence in dolphinaria and zoos and its frequent appearance in the media. These are robust animals measuring up to 3.4 metres long and weighing around 300 kg when fully grown, which is somewhat shorter than their counterparts in oceanic populations. Their colour pattern is typically a dark grey back with light grey sides and a near-white belly. Older animals often have scars inflicted by other animals, including rake marks caused by other dolphins’ teeth.