108. Common Bottlenose Dolphin, Tursiops truncatus (G. Montagu, 1821)

(Fig. 117)

(IUCN Red List: LC)

Subspecies: T.t. truncates (Montagu, 1821) .

Status: Regular; dolphins were found floating adrift in several places along the coasts of Ras Al-Baseet, Ibn Hani, Jableh and Banias (Gonzalvo & Bearzi 2008; Saad 2008; Dede et al. 2012; Ibrahim 2011a; Saad et al. 2019) while others were encountered stranded dead at Jabla, Banias, Tartous, and Ibn Hani coasts (Gonzalvo & Bearzi 2008; Ibrahim 2008; 2011a); Latakia, Tartous, Banias, and Ras Al Baseet coastlines (Saad 2008, Ibrahim 2011a). One injured individual was encountered near Laialina swimming club (Lattakia city) in October 2019 (Ibrahim et al. 2021). A swimming dolphin was found 6 km west of Tartous coast (see Ibrahim et al. 2021). Recent records: 5 km northwest of Tartous (2022) (Fig. 118).