![]() Bottlenose dolphins in captivity only survive to an average of 12 years, 9 months and 8 days – this is appallingly low compared to their life expectancy in the wild. We knew that a life in a tank can never replicate the quality of life that dolphins enjoy in their natural homes and this was borne out by my findings. In the wild, bottlenose dolphins generally live between 30 and 50 years. It’s hard to know why this might be without speculating, but perhaps those first few years in the wild when dolphins are in more natural social groups in a natural environment might help them survive for longer periods in captivity, despite the stress of capture and confinement. Captive-born dolphins are living just 9 years and 22 days, compared to 14 years, 9 months and 20 days survival for those taken from the sea. When I split the data into those born in captivity and those who were captured from the wild, the average survival time of those born in captivity was significantly lower than those who had been born in the wild. I found that the average survival time in captivity for all individuals who survived more than one year is 12 years, 9 months and 8 days. I took all this information and calculated a mean average survival time and then used standard statistical tests to work out the significance of my results. I excluded any individuals for whom there was no exact birth or death date and also dolphins born in captivity who survived less than one year, as calf mortality is generally high for this species. I used data available on the Ceta-Base website for dolphins who had died in captivity. I needed to calculate a figure for the average amount of time bottlenose dolphins have survived in a captive facility, and it was a challenge I was eager to rise to. My aim was to find out how long dolphins live in captivity. 52.26% of bottlenose dolphins successfully born in captivity do not survive past one year – a higher mortality rate than in the wild.Dolphins who were captured from the wild survived for longer in captivity than those that were born into captivity.The average survival time in captivity for all bottlenose dolphin individuals who lived more than one year is 12 years, 9 months and 8 days – much lower than the wild where they live to between 30 and 50 years.The views and opinions expressed by our guest bloggers are those of the author, and do not necessarily represent those of WDC. Here Grace explains what she did with the study and presents a summary of her findings. She used all available data on the Ceta-Base website for the length of time bottlenose dolphins, now dead, had lived in captivity, over a period of 79 years from to. The majority of the facilities she looked at are in the United States and Europe. Using information from the Ceta-Base website, Grace analysed data from 67 facilities that hold or have held bottlenose dolphins in captivity. She joined our End Captivity team during her time with us and took on an important piece of work, investigating the life span of bottlenose dolphins in captivity. Grace is a student at the University of Exeter and she’s keen to get into whale and dolphin research and conservation. We were happy to host Zoology student, Grace Long for a two week placement at our UK headquarters, in March. ![]()
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