| Scientific Name | | Stenella coeruleoalba | |
| English Common Name | | Striped Dolphin |
| Taxonomy | | Class: Mammalia
Order: Cetacea
Sub-order: Odontoceti
Family: Delphinidae
Genus: Stenella
Species: coeruleoalba
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| Behaviour | | Striped dolphins are extremely active at the surface and are one of the more acrobatic of the dolphin species. In some areas striped dolphins will bow-ride and frequently leave the water with flying leaps where the identifying features can easily be distinguished. In other areas they actively avoid vessels.
Striped dolphins can be seen in both small groups and large super-pods of several hundred animals. When feeding they will dive to depths of at least 200m and will typically stay under water for between 5 ? 10 minutes.
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| World Distribution | | Although not continuous, distribution of striped dolphins is in warm temperate, tropical and subtropical waters around the world. Some populations are known to engage in seasonal migrations, others are thought to be resident with large home-ranges. They appear to favour deep water and are primarily found off-shore.
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| Morphology | | Due to the distinctive “striping” on their sides and the pale-grey finger shaped marking beneath its dorsal fin, the striped dolphin is relatively easy to identify. Another unique feature is a black line that stretches from the beak, around the eye patch and along the flanks to the underside of the tail stock. The striped dolphin is very streamlined with a long beak and large dorsal fin.
Newborns are about 1m in length, adult males between 1.9 - 2.6m and adult females between 1.9 -2.1m. They weigh between 90 to 510kg. Their diet includes fish, squid and crustaceans.
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| Threats | | Like many other whales and dolphins, net entanglement is one of the main threats to striped dolphins. Drive hunts in Japan, where entire schools are driven close to shore and killed for their meat, are also a serious threat as thousands can be killed annually.
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| Status | | No abundance estimate is available for this species however they are thought to be locally common in some places and relatively rare in others.
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| Conservation Activities | | CMS: Appendix I
Protected under ASCOBANS
Protected under ACCOBAMS
IUCN - Lower Risk (conservation dependant) ? awaiting re-evaluation
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