California mammals

Common Bottlenose Dolphin in California

Tursiops truncatus

Native to California

Not listed as nonindigenous in California by USGS NAS; treated as native to its mapped California range.

IUCN Red List status

  1. LC
  2. NT
  3. VU
  4. EN
  5. CR
  6. EW
  7. EX

LC – Least Concern

Widespread and abundant; not at risk.

Common Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus)Delfín mular (Tursiops truncatus), isla de San Cristóbal, islas Galápagos, Ecuador, 2015-07-24, DD 86Common Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus)Two wild bottlenose dolphins breaching in unison over gray coastal waterWild bottlenose dolphin surfacing head-on, beak and dorsal fin above the water
Photo: NASA · Public domainCommon Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus)Photo: Diego Delso · CC BY-SA 4.0Delfín mular (Tursiops truncatus), isla de San Cristóbal, islas Galápagos, Ecuador, 2015-07-24, DD 86Photo: Jonathan Eisen · CC BY 4.0Common Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus)Photo: steve b · CC0Two wild bottlenose dolphins breaching in unison over gray coastal waterPhoto: Rolf Lawrenz · CC BY 4.0Wild bottlenose dolphin surfacing head-on, beak and dorsal fin above the water

Common Bottlenose Dolphin in California, by the numbers

Common in California 32nd most recorded of 241 mammals logged in California

3,752 occurrence records
3,463 with iNaturalist photos

3,752 total records count every California occurrence from GBIF and iNaturalist; the map plots a georeferenced sample of 300; the monthly chart covers the 3,745 records with a full observation date.

When to look for the Common Bottlenose Dolphin in California

Recorded year-round, with no strong seasonal peak.

3,745 California occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) by month of year. Shows when the species is recorded, not a guarantee of presence.

Monthly California records (table)
MonthRecords
January364
February248
March300
April307
May308
June276
July343
August350
September262
October298
November272
December417

Monthly common bottlenose dolphin occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) in California.

Seasonality

Year-round in California, with no strong seasonal peak in observations.

Occurrence map

Where Common Bottlenose Dolphin has been recorded in California

300 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

299 California records mapped

Notable places to look

Park, forest, or monumentiNaturalist records
Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area 75
Golden Gate National Recreation Area 65
Torrey Pines State Reserve 39
Channel Islands National Park 24
Crystal Cove State Park 18
Half Moon Bay State Beach 13
Fort Ord Dunes State Park 10
Seacliff State Beach 10

Protected places with the most common bottlenose dolphin sightings, from the USGS Protected Areas Database plus named mountain ranges, good spots to look, not a full breakdown, so they don't sum to the total.

Where it's recorded in California

CountyRecords
San Diego County 370
Los Angeles County 331
Orange County 147
Santa Cruz County 122
Monterey County 117
San Mateo County 73
Santa Barbara County 67
San Luis Obispo County 42
Ventura County 36
San Francisco County 24
Marin County 15
Sonoma County 4
5 other counties 2,404

The complete county distribution, spread across 17 California counties. Every occurrence record falls in one county, so these sum to the total. Counties from GBIF and US Census boundaries.

Common bottlenose dolphin reports line California’s coast rather than its open interior. Monterey Bay, the Channel Islands, and the Southern California Bight stand out because nearshore waters and regular boat routes make dolphins easier to observe.

Records are spread across the year, with December only modestly higher than most months. That broad pattern suits dolphins using California waters in every season, but port access, sea conditions, and whale-watching schedules strongly affect what gets reported. The totals don’t measure pod size or offshore numbers.

Occurrence data from iNaturalist and GBIF.

Common Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus)
Full species profile Common Bottlenose Dolphin Tursiops truncatus Size 2–4 m6.6–13.1 ft Weight 150–650 kg330.7–1433 lb Lifespan 60 yr View the full profile

More mammals in California in the atlas

Data & sources

The data and visualizations on this page draw on these open sources:

  • GBIFCC-BY 4.0occurrence records behind the range map, elevation, and record counts
  • iNaturalistCC0 / CC-BY / CC-BY-SAobservations, photos, and audio recordings
  • IUCN Red Listattributed factthe global conservation status
  • USGS NASpublic domainnative / introduced status
  • Natural Earthpublic domainthe relief basemap
  • USFSpublic domainnational-forest boundaries
  • USGS Protected Areas Databasepublic domainthe named parks, forests, and refuges behind "notable places to look"