Gross dissection of the orbital gland of the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) has revealed a large, finely lobulated, belt-like structure complete-Ty surrounding the ocular globe with ductular connections directly into the conjunctival sac between the globe and eyelids. Correlative light microscopic (LM) and electron microscopic (EM) analysis utilizing a special embedding plastic (LR White) has been used which allows adjacent sections to be examined from the same block using both techniques. This approach has confirmed the composition of both major types of intracytoplasmic vesicles in the acinar cells as acid and neutral glycosaminoglycans through Alcian blue/periodic acid Schiff histochemistry. While these appear both from structural and histochemical evidence to represent the major components of the tear product in the dolphin, exposure of paraffin sections to Sudan Black stain indicate the presence of some secretary lipid vesicles as well. The predominance of glycosaminoglycans, however, represents a departure from the findings in terrestrial mammals.