Dusky Dolphin

Fascinating facts about the Dusky Dolphin

• A dusky dolphin can be as long as a small school bus, reaching up to 178 cm (5.84 ft) and weighing as much as a heavyweight boxer at 78 kg (172 lb) for females, with males only slightly shorter but a bit heavier. Newborn calves arrive at just under a meter long, 91.2 cm (2.99 ft), and tip the scales at 9.6 kg (21 lb).
• When chased, a dusky dolphin can sprint at 10 m s⁻¹ (36 km h⁻¹; 22 mph), a speed comparable to a sprinting cheetah on land, and it can plunge to depths of 130 m (430 ft) in a single dive. This burst capability lets it chase schools of anchovies and lantern fish that hover near the thermocline, then retreat quickly to avoid orcas lurking below. The combination of rapid acceleration and deep diving supports its flexible foraging tactics, from surface bait-ball herding to night-time hunting in scattered layers, ensuring it can exploit a wide range of prey throughout the day.
• Dusky dolphins become sexually mature between four and eight years, depending on where they live, and females off Peru carry calves for more than a year before birth. A gestation longer than 12 months means calves are born and join nursery groups that protect them from aggressive males.
• Mussel farms in Admiralty Bay have caused a noticeable drop in both the number of dusky dolphins passing through and the size of their groups, and the farms also interfere with the dolphins' ability to herd prey. The structures act as acoustic obstacles, scattering the echo-based signals dolphins rely on to coordinate hunts.
• Dusky dolphins live in a fission-fusion society where group size swells to a thousand individuals off Kaikōura, yet shrinks to about fifty in Admiralty Bay.

Sources

Every fact above was checked against these pages, and kept only where one of them states it.

• Wikipedia

At a glance

About the Dusky Dolphin

In the sun-drenched waters of the southern hemisphere, the dusky dolphin dances with effortless elegance, its sleek, grey form weaving in and out of the waves with a fluidity that belies its remarkable agility. As it moves through the ocean, its clicks and whistles echo through the water, a symphony of sound that underscores its highly social nature, for this is a creature that thrives in the company of others, often gathering in large, boisterous groups to hunt and play. With its distinctive curved dorsal fin and perpetual smile, the dusky dolphin is a charismatic and captivating presence, a true marvel of the marine world.

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