Happy whale Friday everyone!
This whale Friday we are learning and focusing on the Atlantic Spotted Dolphin.
The Atlantic spotted dolphin, also known as the Stenella frontalis is a dolphin closely related to the bottlenose, and distinguished from other members of the Stenella family by its spotted pattern. As indicated from their name they are found around the Atlantic ocean, stretching from around Maine down to mid Southern America and then stretching across to Italy and South Africa.
They gain their spots as they age in a couple of different stages, known as two tone, speckles, mottled, and fused, shown below in that order. When born calves are fairly a grey-white color, being indistinguishable from bottlenose calves. Then as they are weaned, speckling occurs lasting for about 3 to 4 years. As they reach about 8 to 9 years of age they start developing a merging of grey and white spots on the dorsal surface and black spots on the belly, this is the mottled stage. Then as the dolphin continues to age the fused pattern is reached when spotts of both black and whie spread to the sides.
Within this dolphin they're known for their individual vocalizations, made of whistles, buzzes, squacks, and barks at one another, each having their own meaning and behaviour. The Atlantic spotted dolphin is an extremely social animal and has pods made up of 5 to 15 members and often mix their pods with bottlenose dolphins. they're also known to be strategic, hunting in groups and encircling their prey. This prey mostly consists of small fish, various cephalopods, and benthic invertebrates.
I hope everyone has a good Friday!