Pacific White-sided Dolphin


Scientific Name Lagenorhynchus obliquidens
English Common Name Pacific White-Sided dolphin
Taxonomy Class: Mammalia
Order: Cetacea
Sub-order: Odontoceti
Family: Delphinidae
Genus: Lagenorhynchus
Species: obliquidens

Behaviour Pacific White-sided dolphins are fast, active and quite acrobatic, making a lot of disturbance to the surface of the water. When they are travelling fast (porpoising) they leave the water completely to breathe and leave a distinctive spray of water in their wake; otherwise known as a “rooster tail”. A keen bow-rider and a one of the more inquisitive dolphin species. Smaller groups are usually found inshore whilst larger pods are found off-shore in deeper waters.
World Distribution Found in deep temperate waters of the northern north Pacific, they tend to stay north of the tropics and south of the colder Arctic waters, being absent from the Bering Sea. They are mainly found offshore and are only found close to land in deep water areas.
Morphology The Pacific white-sided dolphin has a robust body, with a tall dorsal fin and flippers that are dark at the front, and fade to pale grey on the rear. The patterns on each animal tend to vary, but all have a black or grey back, and a thin light grey strip along both sides, which runs from the head and widens into a patch on the rear flank, by the tail. They also have a pale grey patch on each side above their flippers, and a white belly. Their beak is extremely small and black, and they have 42-64 teeth on both their upper and lower jaws. Adults can grow between 1.7 and 2.4 metres long and weigh between 85 – 150kg. Newborn are 80cm - 1.2m and weigh around 15kg. Their diet includes fish, octopus and squid.
Threats The primary threats are incidental entanglement in fishing nets and directed hunts.
Status No abundance estimate is available for this species however they are thought to be locally common.
Conservation Activities CMS status: "not listed"
IUCN – Least Concern