Did you know? Despite often being referred to as killer whales, orca actually belong to the dolphin family – it is just one of 40 extant species of this aquatic mammal.
Dolphins have few marine enemies (some are even apex predators), however it is humans that their wild populations are threatened by. The organised shark culling programs are responsible for the deaths of thousands of dolphins (not just sharks) every year, in addition to boat propellers, plastics, and ocean pollution.
These beautiful, intelligent animals deserve better in the tattoo realm as well as real life. Dolphins were a symbol of the 90s and even now there are still so many awful dolphin tattoos being produced. For National Dolphin Day we’ve sifted through over 10,000 images and selected the top 15 dolphin tattoos.
Click here for our huge collection of animal themed posts.
Banana dolphin tattoo by @clareclarity on tattooer @jodydawber
Colour realism dolphins tattoo by @lizvenom
Neo trad dolphin tattoo by @atelierkaninchenbau
Fresh and healed photos of this colour realism dolphin tattoo by @randyengelhard
Dolphin wind chime tattoo by Scott Johnson
Stylised dolphins tattoo by @maija_tattoo
Colour realism dolphin and shark tattoo by @cjtattoos
Kawaii dolphin tattoo by @tattoosbymeri
Neo trad 80s styled dolphin tattoo by @theleisurebandit
@katietattoos stained glass dolphin tattoo from a challenge on Ink Master
Neo trad floral dolphin tattoo by @adam_grdnr_tattoo
Sparkly decorative love hearts and dolphin tattoo by @holyghost_tattooer
Snorkey the dolphin (The Simpsons) tattoo by @samilocke
#ColorTribalism dolphin tattoo by @tomas_garcia
Dolphin cover up tattoo by @jameswitheetattoo