The common bottlenose dolphin is the best known of all cetaceans, featured in legends since ancient Greek and Roman times, and in several modern day films. The name comes from its distinctive bottle-shaped beak, which makes it easily recognisable, together with the smiling mouth-line, the sharp demarcation between the forehead (melon) and the beak (rostrum), the dark colouration of its body and the moderately falcate (hooked) dorsal fin.

Bottlenose dolphins can reach up to 4m in length and weigh up to 600kg, with considerable variations between populations, most likely due to the changes in water temperature. Nicks and notches on the trailing edge of the dorsal fin, combined with the size and shape, are use to recognised the individuals through the photo-identification process.

Bottlenose dolphins, as all odontoceti species, communicate through use of sounds. Although more studies are required to understand the full extent of their communication, each dolphin is known to emit a signature whistle, which can be used to distinguish between the members of the pod. They also produce clicks and burst-pulsed sounds. Clicks are used for eco-location as a means for navigation and hunting, whilst burst-pulsed sounds ae normally used for close range communication, or to show arousal or aggression, and for mother-calf interactions.