Happy #DolphinAwarenessMonth! The word Delphinidae comes from the Latin word 'Delphinus,' meaning 'dolphin.' The ocean dolphin family is very large and diverse, with a total of 38 species found in all of the world's oceans and seas. The largest dolphin is the orca, and smallest is the Māui dolphin - a subspecies of the Hector's dolphin.
Delphinidae are considered toothed whales, or ‘odontocetes’ which means ‘toothed sea-monster’ in Greek. Ocean Conservation Research - OCR
#11 in our #DolphinAwarenessMonth Series: Peale's dolphin (Lagenorhynchus australis). These monochrome beauties are found in the waters off the southern tip of South America. Peale's dolphins prefer shallow coastal waters like kelp beds. Their diet includes octopus, small squid, fish and crustaceans.
These dolphins grow up to 6.5 to 7.2 ft (1.9 to 2.2 m) in length and 200 to 265 lb (90 to 120 kg) in weight. They are classified as data deficient, however still face threats such as an increasing oil and gas industry, coastal gillnets, aquaculture developments, and habitat degradation.
Photo by Caroline Weir / Falklands Conservation
#DidYouKnow dolphins keep the same set of teeth throughout their lives, but the teeth grow as the dolphin grows - so a dolphin skull can be "aged" by counting the rings on their teeth! #DolphinAwarenessMonth
Photo by George Karbus Photography
