Dolphins & More!

We normally see Bottlenose dolphins on every trip. For some reason they seem to like sailboats (maybe no noise?)  We also have sightings of Sea Eagles, Brown Pelicans, Sea Rays, Gulls, schools of various fish and occasionally a sea turtle or two.  The wildlife and sea life in and around Orange Beach is great!

The Alabama Bottlenose dolphins are grey in color and can be between 6 and 13 feet long.  They can weigh anywhere from 330 pounds up to 1000!  Their most distinguishing feature is the elongated snout , called the rostrum, which gives the animal its name.  Like all whales and dolphins, the snout is not the functional nose. The functional nose is actually the blowhole on the top of its head. 

Bottlenose dolphins live in groups called pods that typically number about 15 dolphins. Group size varies from solitary bottlenose dolphins up to groups of over 100 or even occasionally over 1000 animals. Their diet consists mainly of small fish. These pods often work as a team to harvest schools of fish, but they also hunt individually. Dolphins search for prey primarily using echolocation, which is similar to sonar. They emit clicking sounds and listen for the return echo to determine the location and shape of nearby items, including potential prey. Bottlenose dolphins also use sound for communication. Sounds used for communication include squeaks and whistles emitted from the blowhole and sounds emitted through body language, such as leaping from the water and slapping their tails on the water.

The Alabama Gulf Coast is home to many speices of birds. We typically see numerous types of sea and shore birds on each trip. Some of the more  common types are: Laughing gull, ringed bill  gull, egrets, brown pelicans and blue herons.

Sea Turtles

Occasionaly we may be lucky enough to see a sea turtle on her way to the beach to nest. To observe these magnificent animals in the wild is a real treat.

On all of our tours you are guaranteed to see wonderful views of the Orange Beach bays and coastline as well as a variety of wildlife.