The pristine habitat of Jervis Bay Marine Park, is home to an abundance of marine life, fish stocks flourish here, and the water quality is very high- due to limited run off and ocean currents that regularly flush out the Bay.
When it comes to Common Bottlenose Dolphin’s life spans can be any where from 20- 50 years!!
Although, it could be even LONGER, as observation based ages have only been recorded for 65 years..Dolphin Watch Cruises have been cruising on Jervis Bay for nearly 30 years and some dolphins have been here since well before then- having a calf already! So, she would be close to 40 at LEAST!Some factors that influence the longevity of wild dolphins are:
- Habitat
- Abundance and quality of food
- Predation
- Water quality- toxins and turbidity
- Threats from human influences- ship strikes and litter- plastic bags, balloons, cigarette butts & entrapment
- Hunting
We are so lucky that in Jervis Bay the dolphins are exposed to few of these threats and we continually witness the population growing with many newborn calves arriving every year!
The lifespan of dolphins in Jervis Bay could do with more research- any PhD candidates out there?
Could Jervis Bay have the WORLD’S longest living Dolphins?!?!
How can you tell the age of a dolphin?
Keep your eyes peeled on our page for another blog in the coming weeks…
If you want to see some of Jervis Bay’s resident dolphins and have a guess at their age, you can book a ticket on one of our daily cruises using the button below.
