Marine mammal – Page 2 – See Animals Wild

White-beaked dolphin

White beaked dolphin

The white-beaked dolphin is a marine mammal belonging

to the family Delphinidae (oceanic dolphins) in the sub order Odontoceti (toothed whales). Their distribution is shown in the map.

The white-beaked dolphin is endemic to the cold temperate and subarctic waters of the North Atlantic Ocean, most commonly in seas less than 1,000 m (3,300 ft) deep. Due to the fact they are not fully adapted to Arctic conditions, they are more vulnerable to predators, most notably polar bears. Within this wider region, white-beaked dolphins are most commonly found in four locales: on the Labrador Shelf close to southwestern Greenland, around Iceland, off the northern and eastern coasts of Britain, and off the coast of Norway. In the Faroe Islands between Iceland and the United Kingdom the White-beaked dolphin is at risk of being hunted during drive catches of the long-finned pilot whales. They may also be incidentally trapped in the purse-sein and trawl nets of the area. There are no recognised subspecies.

The dolphin may easily be misidentified as the Atlantic white-sided dolphin, although the white-beaked is commonly found further north. The white-beaked dolphin is also typically larger, and does not have yellow streaks on its side.

Below is a video (no sound) of them filmed under water off the coast of the UK. Northern parts of the UK have populations, including Lyme bay and areas around the hebrides.

They are thought to number 100,000, so are listed as least concern.

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Peales Dolphin

Peale’s dolphin (also known as the Black-chinned dolphin and the Peales black-chinned dolphin) is a small dolphin found in the waters around Tierra del Fuego at the bottom of South America. However, since Rice’s work, Peale’s dolphin has been adopted as the standard common name. Peale’s dolphin is of typical size in its family — about 1 m in length at birth and 2.1 m (6.9 ft) when fully mature. Its adult weight is about 115 kg. It has a dark-grey face and chin. The back is largely black with a single off-white stripe running curving and thickened as it runs down the back on each side. The belly is white. Conspicuously, also a white patch occurs under just behind each flippers. These are known as the “armpits”. The flanks also have a large white-grey patch above the flipper.

The total population is unknown, but recent research estimates there to be ~21,800 individuals in the South Atlantic part of its range.

Peale’s dolphins’ propensity for moving over only small areas, and staying close to shore, has rendered them vulnerable to interference by man. During the 1970s and ’80s, Chilean fisherman killed and used thousands of Peale’s dolphins for crab bait each year. This practice has decreased, but not been made illegal.

In Argentina, Peale’s dolphins have been reported becoming trapped in gill nets, but the extent of this is not known. Conservation groups such as the Whale and Dolphin Conservation demand further research be made into this species.

The Peale’s dolphin or black-chinned dolphin is listed on Appendix II of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS). It is listed on Appendix II as it has an unfavourable conservation status or would benefit significantly from international co-operation organised by tailored agreements.

Below you will see a video of this species, and below that a list of all (if any) articles written on this species on this website – it will update automatically. Below that, we will add any links in the area which might help you see this species in the wild. They will be added as we make connections.

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Pacific white-sided dolphin

The Pacific white-sided dolphin, also called the hookfin porpoise, is an active dolphin found in the cool or temperate waters of the North Pacific Ocean.

The Pacific white-sided dolphin was named by Smithsonian mammalogist Theodore Nicholas Gill in 1865. It is morphologically similar to the dusky dolphin, which is found in the South Pacific.^[6] Genetic analysis by Frank Cipriano suggests the two species diverged around two million years ago.

Though traditionally placed in the genus Lagenorhynchus. Molecular analyses indicate they are closer to dolphins of the genus Cephalorhynchus, in the Lissodelphininae subfamily, than to both the Atlantic white-sided dolphin and the White-beaked dolphin. It has therefore been proposed to move the Pacific white-sided dolphin to the resurrected genus Sagmatias together with other southern hemisphere species (hourglass dolphin, Dusky dolphin and Peale’s dolphin). However, there is still some analysis to do, before this move can take place. White-sided dolphins swim in groups of 10 to 100, and can often be seen bow-riding and doing somersaults. Members form a close-knit group and will often care for a sick or injured dolphin. Animals that live in such large social groups develop ways to keep in touch, with each dolphin identifying itself by a unique name-whistle. Young dolphins communicate with a touch of a flipper as they swim beside adults.

United Nations banned certain types of large fishing nets in 1933, many Pacific white-sided dolphins were killed in drift nets. Some animals are still killed each year by Japanese hunting drives

There are around 100 in dolphinarias in the USA and Japan. They are currently listed as least concern

Below is a list of any articles on the species, and below that a video of it. Under this, I will add any links that might help you see this species in the wild.

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Hourglass dolphin

The hourglass dolphin is a small dolphin in the family Delphinidae that inhabits offshore Antarctic and sub-Antarctic waters. It is commonly seen from ships crossing the Drake Passage, but has a circumpolar distribution.

The species was identified as a new species by Jean René Constant Quoy and Joseph Paul Gaimard in 1824 from a drawing made in the South Pacific in 1820. It is the only to have been widely accepted as a species solely on witness accounts.

Sighting surveys were conducted in 1976–77 and 1987–88. Abundance was estimated to be 144,300 individuals, based on line transect sightings in January 1977 and January 1988 in northern Antarctic waters. This is the only abundance estimate of hourglass dolphins to date.

It is currently listed as least concern on the IUCN red list.

Below you will find a video of the species, and below this a list of any articles that have (or will be) written on this species. Under this, we will over time, hope to add links which will help you see this animal in the wild.

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Atlantic white-sided dolphin

The dolphin is slightly larger than most other oceanic dolphins. It is just over a meter in length at birth, growing to about 2.8 m (9.2 ft) (males) and 2.5 m (8.2 ft) (females) at maturity. Females reach sexual maturity at between 6 and 12 years, and males between 7 and 11 years. The gestation period is 11 months and lactation lasts for about 18 months — both typical figures for dolphins. Individuals are known to live for at least 17 years.

The key distinguishing feature is the white to pale yellow patch found behind the dorsal fin of the dolphin on each side.

Groups found off Newfoundland generally number around 60 while those found near Iceland much smaller. The diet of Atlantic white-sided dolphins includes mainly herring, hake and squid. However, they consume a large variety of prey including small mackerel and various bottom fish. They have been observed to cooperatively hunt on the surface. It has been suggested that larger groups split while feeding.

The estimations for the U.S. shelf and shelf-edge water suggest that the population size is about 300,000. Additional 120,000 individuals have been estimated to spend summer in the Gulf of St.Lawrence. In the eastern North America waters the numbers increase southwards in winter and spring in association with cold waters from the Gulf of Maine. The International Union of the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) currently classifies Atlantic white-sided dolphins as Least Concern. The North and Baltic Sea populations of the Atlantic white-sided dolphin are listed on Appendix II of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals. They are listed on Appendix II as they have an unfavourable conservation status or would benefit significantly from international co-operation organised by tailored agreements. These species of dolphin are known to fall victims to in a polluted environment, a study from 1997 confirmed that the British and Irish populations of Atlantic white-sided dolphins to succumb to these effects.

Below is a list of any articles we might have written on the species, and below that is a video. Below this, we are hoping to add many links that will help you see these in the wild. If you work in tourism of this species or hospitality where they live, we would be interested in listing your services on here, to help people come and visit.

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Dusky Dolphin

The dusky dolphin is a dolphin found in coastal waters in the Southern Hemisphere. Its specific epithet is Latin for “dark” or “dim”. It is a close relation of the Pacific white-sided dolphin, but current scientific consensus holds they are distinct species. The dolphin’s range is patchy, with major populations around South America, southwestern Africa, New Zealand, and various oceanic islands, with some sightings around southern Australia and Tasmania. The dusky dolphin prefers cool currents and inshore waters, but can also be found offshore. It feeds on a variety of fish and squid species and has flexible hunting tactics. The dusky dolphin is known for its remarkable acrobatics, having a number of aerial behaviours. The status of the dolphin is unknown, but it has been commonly caught in gill nets.

There is a sizable tourism industry around this species and others found in the same area.

Below is a list of any times this species is mentioned in the website, and below that is a video of this speices. Under both of these, I will list any links which will give you the chance to see this species yourself, and to help support its continual exinstance.

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Irrawaddy Dolphin

Irrawaddy dolphin

The Irrawaddy dolphin is a euryhaline species of oceanic dolphin found in scattered subpopulations near sea coasts and in estuaries and rivers in parts of the Bay of Bengal and Southeast Asia. It closely resembles the Australian snubfin dolphin, which was not described as a separate species until 2005. It has a slate blue to a slate grey colour. Although found in much of the riverine and marine zones of South and Southeast Asia, the only concentrated lagoon populations are found in Chilika Lake in Odisha, India and Songkhla Lake in southern Thailand.

One of the earliest recorded descriptions of the Irrawaddy dolphin was by Sir Richard Owen. in 1866 based on a specimen found in 1852, in the harbour of Visakhapatnam on the east coast of India.

These dolphins are thought to reach sexual maturity at seven to nine years. In the Northern Hemisphere, mating is reported from December to June. Its gestation period is 14 months; cows give birth to a single calf every two to three years. Length is about 1 m (3.3 ft) at birth. Birth weight is about 10 kg (22 lb). Weaning is after two years. Lifespan is about 30 years.

There are plenty of food items that this dolphin feeds upon. They include fish, crustaceans, and cephalopods. During foraging periods, herds of about 7 dolphins will circle around prey and trap their victim. These prey entrapments occur slightly below the water surface level.

Although sometimes called the Irrawaddy river dolphin, it is not a true river dolphin, but an oceanic dolphin that lives in brackish water near coasts, river mouths, and estuaries. It has established subpopulations in freshwater rivers, including the Ganges and the Mekong, as well as the Irrawaddy River from which it takes its name. Its range extends from the Bay of Bengal to New Guinea and the Philippines, although it does not appear to venture off shore. It is often seen in estuaries and bays in Borneo Island, with sightings from Sandakan in Sabah, Malaysia, to most parts of Brunei and Sarawak, Malaysia. A specimen was collected at Mahakam River in East Kalimantan the local name comes from it.

Presence of the species in Chinese, Taiwanese, and Hong Kong’s waters has been questioned as the reported sightings have been considered unreliable, and the easternmost of ranges along Eurasian continent is in Vietnam.

No range-wide survey has been conducted for this vulnerable species; however, the worldwide population appears to be over 7,000. In India, Irawaddy dolphins are mostly found in Chilika Lake. Known subpopulations of Irrawaddy dolphins are found in eight places, listed here in order of population, including conservation status.
It is found in coastal waters of the Bay of Bengal, Sundarbans mangrove forest in the brackish-water Chilika Lake.

Conservation is hard, as this species is found in waters alongside developing nations. As such, they are working hard to food their population and give them a better life – which is generally a place where conservation is a low priority.

Of course, this can help – tourism is an increasingly large worldwide industry. As such a tourism industry, built around seeing this species could create a whole large number of extra jobs. Given the large ecotourism industry of India, it seems an easy extension to add this area.

Below this is a video of the species for your interest. Below that, is an amalgamation of any articles written on this species (we hope to add many in the future). Below that, I will add any links I make to help with you seeing the species in the wild. If you work in tourism and ever see this species, do get in touch, we would love to help people find you.

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Short-finned pilot whale

The short-finned pilot whale) is one of the two species of cetaceans in the genus Globicephala, which it shares with the long-finned pilot whale It is part of the oceanic dolphin family (Delphinidae).

It is found all around the world (avoiding the polar regions) with a global population of about 700,000, though watching them, there appear to be 3-4 distinct populations—two in the Pacific and one in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. Its range is moving northward due to global warming. In the Pacific, males average 4–6 m and females 3–5 m. generally stocky with black to dark gray or brown skin. It can be distinguished from the long-finned pilot whale by its shorter flippers, fewer teeth, and a shorter beak. It is thought to pursue fast-moving squid typically at a depth of 700 m, but the maximum recorded depth is 1,018 m.

The short-finned pilot whale has been reported as being highly playful and social. It typically travels in pods of 10–30 members, usually family, but has been observed moving in groups of several hundred. Like killer whales, it has a matrilineal social hierarchy with an elder female at the head and a sizable post-reproductive lifespan. It is polygynous; females often outnumber males 8:1 in a pod.

Pods are known to mass strand, possibly due to sheer accident, biosonars confused by geomagnetic anomalies, injury from loud military sonar, or disease. It was historically whaled, and is still whaled today by Japan and the Lesser Antilles, but it is protected by several international treaties.

The total of all available abundance estimates for short-finned pilot whales is approximately 700,000 individuals, but populations vary worldwide, and large parts of the species’ range have not been surveyed, therefore actual abundance could be considerably greater than this.

In the western Pacific, population estimates range from 5,300 individuals in Northern Japan to 53,608 in Southern Japan. 7,700 individuals are reported in the eastern Sulu Sea (Philippines), and in the Eastern tropical Pacific the most recent estimate from 2000 gives 589,000 individuals. The resident population in Tenerife, Spain, is estimated at only 350 individuals.

The short-finned pilot whale was listed on the IUCN Red List as Data Deficient in 2008, and remains data-poor in much of its range, especially in the Southern Hemisphere and in large parts of the tropical and warm temperate North Atlantic Ocean.

You will find a video of the species below, and below that a list of any times it has been mentioned on this site (or is in the future). Below that, we will add any links for seeing this animal – as or when we get them.

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Risso’s Dolphin

Risso's Dolphin by Citron

Risso’s dolphin is the only species of the genus Grampus. Some of the closest related species to these dolphins include: pilot whales , pygmy killer whales, melon-headed whales, and false killer whales; looking at the pictures, it is perhaps clear that these are similar – they do have similar shapes.

Risso’s dolphin is named after Antoine Risso, whose study of the animal formed the basis of the recognized description by Georges Cuvierin 1812.

As you can see from the map, their range is pretty large, emcompassing much of the worlds land that lies near land, though not all. Estimated numbers given add up to 300,000 though the number is probably higher, as many areas have not been calculated, and as such their is no global estimate.

The belong to Appendix ii, though they have an unfavourable status.

Below is a video of a risso dolphin, below that is a list of any places where it has been mentioned on this website (or will be in the future) and below that we will try to list places where you can see these animals.

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One place to see Risso dolphin (not always, but from time to time) is Cardigan bay on the west side of Wales in the UK

Rough-toothed Dolphin

Rough toothed dolphin

The rough-toothed dolphin is a species of dolphin that can be found in deep warm and tropical waters around the world. The only member of the genus Steno, but more recent evidence has found that, despite its prominent bill, it in fact belongs with the blunt-nosed dolphins in the subfamily Globicephalinae.

The are found in the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans, and in the Mediterranean Sea, in warm temperate to tropical waters, with occasional reports from cooler environments. Rough-toothed dolphins can also bee seen regularly in locations stretching from the Windward Islands to Cape Verde, but only a small handful have been seen in Azores and Madeira. Live sightings are almost universally made far off-shore, beyond the continental shelf, in water at least 1 kilometre deep.

Most of the research activity concerning the dolphin has been directed in the eastern Pacific, where a population estimate of 150,000 was obtained by researchers in the 1980s.

In the Mediterranean Sea, the species was once considered to be visiting from North Atlantic, however, recently a small resident population was found in the eastern section of this ocean.

Rough-toothed dolphins are typically social animals, although solitary individuals are also sighted. An average group has between ten and twenty members, but they can vary from as few as two to as many as ninety. Such groups are thought to be temporary assemblages, composed of smaller, more permanent groups of two to eight closely related individuals that occasionally join with others. They have also been reported to join groups with other species of dolphin, and with pilot whales, false killer whales and humpback whales.

Conservation status

The population is not believed to be threatened by human activities. A small number of individuals have been harpooned by Japanese whalers and pods are also slaughtered in the Taiji drive hunts. Others have been caught in seine nets by trawlers fishing for tuna. Less than a dozen rough-toothed dolphins live in dolphinarium around the world.

Below this, you will find a short video of these dolphins at sea. Below this, will be a list of any times it has been mentioned (being a specific type of dolphin it is not likely to be mentioned a great deal). Below this, we will add any links which will help you view it in the wild (do get in touch if you work in tourism around this species, we are keen to list your services, fill in the form at the top of the front page – list your wild place).

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White beaked dolphin

Peales Dolphin

Pacific white-sided dolphin

Hourglass dolphin

Atlantic white-sided dolphin

Dusky Dolphin

Irrawaddy dolphin

Short-finned pilot whale

Risso's Dolphin by Citron

Rough toothed dolphin

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