Indo-Pacific Humpback Dolphin (Sousa chinensis) lives in tropical coastal waters across Southeast Asia and Australia. Its conservation status is Vulnerable.
Fascinating facts about the Indo-Pacific Humpback Dolphin
- Some Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins display a vivid pink hue, but the colour is not due to pigment. Observers have recorded pink-skinned individuals along the coasts of China and Thailand, and scientists have shown that the shade comes from blood vessels that are over-developed to aid thermoregulation. This vascular skin can make the animals appear almost albino, contrasting with the typical grey or white adult colouration.
- Adult Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins surface for a brief 20-30 seconds before diving again for two to eight minutes, using echolocation to hunt while submerged. Their calves, which have smaller lung capacities, must surface twice as often as adults and can only remain underwater for one to three minutes. Because of these physiological limits, adults rarely stay underwater for more than four minutes, ensuring regular breathing intervals for the pod.
- A 2013 survey highlighted a steep decline in Hong Kong's Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin population, dropping from 158 individuals recorded in 2003 to just 78 by 2011. This halving of numbers over less than a decade underscores the species' sensitivity to coastal development, pollution and increased marine traffic. The rapid loss contributed to its 2015 classification as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, signalling urgent conservation needs.
- Observers in Hong Kong saw a pod of dolphins lift a mother's dead calf above the water, attempting to revive it. The calf had likely died after ingesting toxins from polluted seawater passed through its mother's milk.
- Data released in 2012 indicated that only about 62 Taiwanese humpback dolphins remained. This small population meets the IUCN criteria for being classified as critically endangered.
Sources
Every fact above was checked against these pages, and kept only where one of them states it.
At a glance
RangeSoutheast Asia and Australia
HabitatTropical coastal waters
DietFish and squid
About the Indo-Pacific Humpback Dolphin
In the warm, turquoise waters of the Indo-Pacific, a creature of sleek elegance glides effortlessly, its dorsal fin slicing through the surface with a subtle whoosh, as the Indo-Pacific Humpback Dolphin navigates its domain with a quiet confidence. With a gentle undulation of its powerful tail, it propels itself through the waves, its grey body glistening in the sunlight as it forages for fish and crustaceans in the coral reefs and coastal shallows. As it breaks the surface, its soft, blowy exhale mingles with the ocean spray, a fleeting glimpse of a life lived in harmony with the rhythms of the sea.
Hear the Indo-Pacific Humpback Dolphin, and 4,400+ more
Real recorded sounds, 11 nature games and a free Daily 5, 1v1 quiz duels, conservation wins and a safe Kids mode. Free on Feravox.
More ocean life to discover
