In news- A four-feet-long male Spinner dolphin (Stenella longirostris) carcass was washed ashore in Odisha’s Paradip town within the Bhitarkanika National Park.
About the Spinner Dolphins-
- They are small cetaceans with a slim build and member of the family Delphinidae of toothed whales.
- This species has an elongated rostrum and a triangular or sub-triangular dorsal fin.
- They are found in off-shore tropical waters around the world.
- It is famous for its acrobatic displays in which it spins along its longitudinal axis as it leaps through the air.
- It is sometimes referred to as the long-snouted dolphin to distinguish it from the similar Clymene dolphin, which is often called the short-snouted spinner dolphin.
- The species was described by John Gray in 1828.
- It is included in Schedule I of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 and in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species and in Appendix II of the Convention on Migratory Species.
- It is categorised as ‘Data deficient’ on the IUCN Red List.
- Though the species primarily inhabits coastal waters, islands, banks, in the eastern tropical Pacific, they live far from shore.
- The four subspecies are:
- Eastern spinner dolphin (S. l. orientalis) from the tropical eastern Pacific.
- Central American or Costa Rican spinner dolphin (S. l. centroamericana) also found in the tropical eastern Pacific.
- Gray’s or Hawaiian spinner dolphin (S. l. longirostris), from the central Pacific Ocean around Hawaii.
- Dwarf spinner dolphin (S. l. roseiventris), first found in the Gulf of Thailand.
Source: DownToEarth
