Spinner Dolphins

Today I will be talking about the Spinner Dolphin! There are 5 different species and the one in the first photograph is the Hawaiian Spinner Dolphin, however this will post will be a general over view of Spinner Dolphins. They are found throughout the tropical waters of the Atlantic and Pacific inhabiting the coastlines as well as deeper waters. During the daytime they will rest and socialize in shallower coastal waters, but at night they will swim deeper to hunt for food like the yellowfin tuna, shrimp, and squid. These dolphins have long slender bodies 6-7 feet long, slender mouth with black lips, short triangular dorsal fin, and pointed pectoral fins. Another recognizable feature is their tricolor patterning with a dark grey back, light grey bands on the side, and the stomach varies from being the lightest grey, white, or even pink. But even some species simply vary is shades of grey. As their name suggests, these dolphins are known for jumping out of the water displaying a spinning behavior. They have been known to jump as high as 10 feet above the water and complete 7 spins, which is quiet the feat given they weigh on average 170lbs!! It is not certain why they do this behavior, but it is believed to be a form of communication or to remove parasites. These incredibly active and social animals are known to form pods of hundreds to even a thousand individuals! As mentioned in the yellowfin tuna post, dolphins were frequently becoming caught as bycatch. So the dolphin safe tuna campaign began in an effort to reduce these unfortunate occurrences and today they are successfully of least concern on the IUCN list!

Originally posted on 20 January 2019

(not my pictures)