Bottlenose dolphins have between 72 and 104 teeth. However, these teeth are not used for chewing but rather for catching and holding onto fish and other prey. Since dolphins swallow their prey whole, they don’t use their teeth to chew them.
Dolphins and hunting
Dolphins are skilled hunters. They use their teeth to grab and hold fish, squid, and other prey rather than to chew it. That flexibility in what they grip lets them work through a wide menu of prey, and they switch up their hunting style depending on what they’re chasing and where.
Dolphins hunt in groups using the “pinwheeling” technique. They circle a school of fish, corralling them into a tight group, then take turns darting in for a quick meal.
Pinwheeling works well against schooling fish and other marine prey because it turns the school’s own instinct to bunch up against it. As the dolphins press in, the fish pack tighter, leaving the group easy to pick off in quick passes.
