Common Bottlenose Dolphin in South Carolina

Tursiops truncatus

Native to South Carolina S5 Secure in South Carolina

Not listed as nonindigenous in South Carolina by USGS NAS; native to its South Carolina range.

IUCN Red List status

LC – Least Concern

Widespread and abundant; not at risk.

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

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 South Carolina, by the numbers

Common in South Carolina 10th most recorded of 108 mammals logged in South Carolina

518 occurrence records

Records from 2000–2026.

518 total records count every South Carolina occurrence from GBIF and iNaturalist; the map plots a georeferenced sample of 300.

When to look for the Common Bottlenose Dolphin in South Carolina

Most sightings fall in June to July.

518 South Carolina occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) by month of year, 2000–2026. Shows when the species is recorded, not a guarantee of presence.

Monthly South Carolina records (table)

Month	Records
January	12
February	16
March	47
April	40
May	21
June	76
July	73
August	42
September	52
October	72
November	53
December	14

Monthly common bottlenose dolphin occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) in South Carolina, 2000–2026.

Seasonality

Year-round in South Carolina, with recorded sightings peaking in June–July, with a smaller rise in September–November and March.

Occurrence map

Where Common Bottlenose Dolphin has been recorded in South Carolina

300 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

300 South Carolina records mapped

Where it's recorded in South Carolina

County	Records
Charleston County	429
Beaufort County	42
Berkeley County	6
Georgetown County	4
Dorchester County	2
Other localities	35

The complete county distribution, spread across 5 South Carolina counties. Every occurrence record falls in one county, so these sum to the total. Counties from GBIF and US Census boundaries.

South Carolina has 518 common bottlenose dolphin records for 2000–2026, all from GBIF. Every month is represented: November is highest at 53, followed by July at 73 and June at 76, whereas January is lowest at 12. This is a record of reporting activity and occurrence, not a census of dolphins.

The species is ranked S5 (Secure) in South Carolina. ACE Basin and Cape Romain national wildlife refuges and Hunting Island State Park are the overlay’s named viewing areas; the year-round monthly coverage supports a broad observation window without showing how dolphins are distributed among those sites.

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 South Carolina 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
NatureServe ExplorerCC-BYthe state conservation rank
IUCN Red Listattributed factthe global conservation status
USGS NASpublic domainnative / introduced status
Natural Earthpublic domainthe relief basemap
USFSpublic domainnational-forest boundaries