Franciscana
| Scientific Name | Pontoporia blainvillei |  | |
| English Common Name | Franciscana | ||
| Taxonomy | Class: Mammalia Order: Cetacea Sub-order: Odontoceti Family: Pontoporiidae Genus: Pontoporia Species: blainvillei | ||
| Behaviour | Very quiet and inconspicuous animals, showing very little of themselves at the surface. Known to actively avoid boats although there is some documentation of animals approaching fishing vessels, perhaps to find a free meal? Appears to prefer to forage for food on the sea-bed and has been known to remain motionless on the surface in the presence of predators. Group size is generally small and consists of between 1 - 5 individuals. | ||
| World Distribution | The Franciscana inhabits the shallow, coastal waters of Uruguay, Argentina and Brazil. Its northern limit is the Doce River, in Brazil, and its southernmost limit Península Valdés in Argentina | ||
| Morphology | There are very few records on Franciscana and information on morphology and behaviour is severely lacking. It is a very shy and inconspicuous animal and very easy to miss. Despite being closely related to the other River dolphins, it is not technically a River dolphin as it lives in the sea and inhabits shallow coastal areas. One of the smallest of all cetaceans; newborns measure between 70 – 80cm and weigh approximately 7.3 – 8.5 kg, adults measure approximately 1.5 m and weigh between 30 – 53 kg. They have the longest beak of all the dolphin family and have anywhere between 106 – 112 teeth in both their upper and lower jaws. Franciscana’s have a stocky body with a rounded belly, their body has a brown greyish colour on the upper sides (from where it is speculated it derives its name because of the Franciscan Monks habits) and a paler underside. Their flippers are broad and almost triangular in shape whilst their flukes are also broad and almost one third of the animals’ body length. They have a small rounded dorsal fin that continues as a ridge down the tail stock until it meets the flukes. | ||
| Threats | Incidental entanglement in fishing nets, especially shark nets, is the major cause of mortality in this species. | ||
| Status | No abundance estimate is available for the entire species however recent aerial surveys estimate their population within the coastal waters of Uruguay and Brazil to be approximately 40,000. | ||
| Conservation Activities | CMS Appendix I IUCN - Data Deficient | ||
