Order: Cetacea

Family: Delphinidae

Size: Length- 5 to 6.5 ft (1.5- 2 m). Male are generally larger than female.

Weight: 155 to 297 lb (70- 135 kg)

Key Features: Common Dolphin has a slender body with long beak separated by a crease from the melon. The prominent dorsal fin may be triangular or falcate, and the flippers taper to a pointed tip. The colour pattern of body is black or dark brown above including the dorsal fin, tail flukes, beak and flippers with yellow patches on the sides. There is a black stripe from the black patch surrounding the eye to the front of the melon, and another from the chin to the flippers. There may be 40 to 58 pairs of small, pointed teeth in each jaw.

Voice: Pulsed whistles, clicks and high- pitched squeaks

Breeding: Single calf born every 1 to 2 years after gestation period of 10 months. Weaned at 12 to 18 months and sexually matures at 5 to 6 yrs. May live about 25 yrs in the wild.

Diet: Squid, small crabs and shoaling fish

Habitat: Found mostly in offshore regions, but may also be observed in coastal waters with surface temperature of above 10˚C, usually more than 600 ft (180 m) deep

Habits: Common Dolphins are playful animals rolling and leaping in water and can speed up to 40 km/h maintaining it for hours. They are found in groups ranging from three to 200, or in herds of many hundreds. They also ride the bow wave of large whales like Fine Whale Balaenoptera physalus and Blue Whale B. musculus. They can even to about 300 m depth for food and can stay for upto eight minutes.

Conservation Status: Common Dolphin is mentioned as ‘least concern’ globally on the IUCN Red list of Threatened species.

Distribution in Gujarat: ZSI has recorded three species (common dolphin, bottle-nosed dolphin and Indo-Pacific hump-backed dolphin) of dolphins in the coastal water of Gujarat of which common dolphin are spotted most frequently. Common Dolphins are reported from Okha, Bural-Chank reef, Bhaidar, Azad, Noru and from Poshitra to Beyt Dwarka. They are also seen along Jamnagar coast near Pirotan, Jindra, Chhad, Dedeka-Mundeka and other islands.

 

 

 

 

 

References:

• Singh, H.S. (2003). Sea mammals in marine protected area in the Gulf of Kachchh, Gujarat State, India, Indian Journal of Marine Sciences, Vol. 32(3), pp. 258-262.

• Marine Mammals Facts Courtesy: Animal Fact Files- Mammals. The Brown Reference Group Plc.