Have Bottlenose Dolphins ever been found in Shark's stomachs and if so what species of shark was it? ?

Question

Have Bottlenose Dolphins ever been found in Shark's stomachs and if so what species of shark was it? ?

Answer 1

The relationship between dolphins and sharks is as follows. The shark tracks a small group of dolphins trying to remain undetected. It watches and waits. When one of the dolphins strays too far from the safety of the group it attacks, and quickly eats what it can, and absconds. If the sharks presence is detected by the dolphins they can attack the sharks as a group and kill the shark. It must have complete surprise and a one-on-one situation if it is to eat.

Great Whites can eat common bottlenosed dolphins, as can tiger sharks. There are something along the lines of 450 identified species of sharks (with many more yet to be discovered). Out of those only about two or three dozen species are larger than a man. Any of those would be a threat such as great hammerheads, bull sharks, reef sharks, blue sharks, lemon sharks, makos, sand tiger sharks, and so on.

Answer 2

Not to my knowledge, but that doesn't mean it doesn't happen.  Sharks are carrion eaters, like vultures, and if there is dolphin flesh in the water unguarded, most sharks would probably eat it, but sharks hunting dolphins is another matter entirely.  I don't doubt that young and inexperienced sharks might stalk dolphins a time or two, but even sharks are bright enough not to do something that hurts a lot every time they do it.

In their heads, dolphins have oil-filled glands surrounded by very fine musculature, called melons, that act as lenses to focus the sounds they make.  When they are echolocating, they send out sound in 10º wide cones, but by changing the shape of the melon, they can focus that sound to a point, like sunlight through a magnifying glass.  If they do that, and then yell really loudly, the focused sound alone can tear flesh to shreds at the focal point, even at considerable distances.  

Dolphins don't have to yell anywhere near that loud for sharks to get the message.  They start out softly and increase the volume until the shark gets the message.  Sharks may eat their own entrails if disemboweled, but that doesn't mean they can't feel any pain, and the dolphins can keep increasing the volume until the sound kills the shark by tearing its innards to shreds.  I'll bet the dolphins can make it just hurt like fire that way without even doing any tissue damage.

So if dolphin tissue is found in a shark's stomach, the dolphin was probably already dead when the shark found it.

Answer 3

Bottlenose dolphins are sometimes hunted by large sharks (tiger, dusky and bull, for example) and killer whales.