What bottlenose dolphins eat

The diet of coastal bottlenose dolphins is diverse and depends upon geographical location. Many dolphins eat only fish, although some also eat small numbers of cephalopods, crustaceans, small rays, and sharks Adults eat approximately 5% of their body weight per day.

Bottlenose dolphins often cooperate when hunting and catching fish. In open waters, a dolphin group sometimes encircles a large school of fish and herds them into a tight, dense mass for easy feeding. The dolphins take turns charging through the school to feed while the others keep the fish from scattering. Occasionally dolphins herd fish to shallow water and trap them against a shore or sandbar.