Pacific white-sided dolphin
Sagmatias obliquidens
- Not on exhibit
- Animal type
- Marine mammals
- Ecosystem
- Open ocean
- Relatives
- Common dolphin, bottlenose dolphin, Atlantic white-sided dolphin; Order: Cetacea; Family: Delphinidae
- Diet
- Fishes and squid
- Range
- Found throughout the North Pacific Ocean, and in the western Pacific Ocean from the South Bering Sea to southern Japan.
- Size
- Up to 8 feet (2.5 m), 441 pounds (200 kg); females are smaller
Meet the Pacific white-sided dolphin
These dolphins keep close company. White-sided dolphins swim in pods of thousands, although groups of several hundred or less are more common. Members form a close-knit group and will often care for a sick or injured dolphin.
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Monterey Bay Cam
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Animals that live in such big social groups develop ways to keep in touch—each dolphin identifies itself by a unique “signature whistle”. Staying close helps, too. A young dolphin communicates with the touch of a flipper as they swim beside adults.
Conservation
This species is no longer commercially hunted in the United States. Some are taken for food in Japan's coastal fishery. They're difficult to catch, however, and the numbers taken are not a threat to the total population in Japanese waters. Unknown numbers have been accidentally killed in drift and gill nets. The United States requires fisheries in the Pacific to have acoustic warning signals to help prevent dolphins from being caught in these nets.
The Pacific white-sided dolphin is classified as a species of "Least Concern" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Cool facts
- Pacific dolphins swim in formation with other dolphins and sea lions, sometimes leaping from the water in spirited somersaults.
- This dolphin may live as long as 45 years.
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