Dolphins and porpoises are both cetaceans, and are classified as toothed whales and share several similarities. These social marine mammals communicate using whistles, clicks, and unique vocalizations and are warm-blooded, breathe air, and nurse their young with milk. They use echolocation for navigation, and finding food. Threats to their populations include habitat destruction, entanglement in fishing gear, vessel strikes, and water and noise pollution.
Orca or Killer Whale
ORCA or KILLER WHALE Orcinus orca (Linnaeus, 1758) DERIVATION: orcinus may be from […]
Baiji
BAIJI or BEIJI – Chinese River Dolphin Lipotes vexillifer (Miller, 1918) DERIVATION: […]
Bottlenose Dolphin
BOTTLENOSE DOLPHIN Tursiops truncatus (Montagu 1821) DERIVATION: from the Latin tursio for an animal […]
Dall’s Porpoise
DALL’S PORPOISE Phocoenoides dalli (True, 1885) DERIVATION: from the Latin or Greek phocaena for […]
Harbor Porpoise
HARBOR PORPOISE Phocoena phocoena (Linnaeus, 1758) HARBOR PORPOISE RESEARCH – SAN JUAN […]
Hector’s Dolphin
HECTOR’S DOLPHIN Cephalorhynchus hectori (van Beneden, 1881) DERIVATION: Hector was a New […]
Indo-Pacific Hump-Back Dolphin
INDO-PACIFIC HUMPBACK DOLPHIN Sousa chinensis (Osbeck, 1765) DERIVATION: chinensis refers to China and Sousa for not […]
Irrawaddy Dolphin
IRRAWADDY DOLPHIN Orcaella brevirostris (Owen in Gray, 1866) Irrawaddy Dolphins Disappearing from the Mekong […]
Northern Right Whale Dolphin
Northern Right Whale Dolphin Lissodelphis borealis Peale, 1848 Physical Characteristics: Northern right […]
Pacific White-Sided Dolphin
PACIFIC WHITE-SIDED DOLPHIN Lagenorhynchus obliquidens Gill, 1865 DERIVATION: from the Latin obliquus for slanting, […]
Risso’s Dolphin
RISSO’S DOLPHIN Grampus griseus (G. Cuvier, 1812) DERIVATION: from the Latin grandis for “great” […]
Spinner Dolphin
SPINNER DOLPHIN Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class – Mammalia Order – Cetacea […]
Vaquita Porpoise
Vaquita The World’s Most-Endangered Cetacean A Vaquita Porpoise! Thomas A. Jefferson, Ph.D. […]