Peales Dolphin

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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aaa Penguins, South Georgia

Penguins, South Georgia

This is an Antarctic island sanctuary lying about 2000km east of Tierra del Fuego in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is an island which is 170 km long (just over 100 miles long) The surrounding rocks and islets provide shelter for a range of wildlife, from birds to marine mammals, that inhabit this area. The water around the island are incredibly cold, with icebergs regularly seen in its waters.

The largest penguin colonies on earth are found here, with around 400,000 breeding pairs of King penguins, and over 2 million pairs of the smaller Macaroni penguins. Other smaller colonies of Gentoo (100,000 pairs) and chinstrap (6000 pairs) breed here in smaller numbers. Below is a documentary about the penguins on this island.

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