Peale's Dolphin

• It is one of the few dolphins that habitually hunts within the giant kelp forests of Patagonia, moving between the fronds to corner fish.
• It is named after the American naturalist Titian Peale, who described it during the Wilkes expedition of 1839.
• It lives in association with the kelp forests: it swims and hunts along the channels the kelp leaves open, an unusual habitat for a dolphin.
• It eats mainly fish and bottom-dwelling invertebrates, as well as molluscs and cephalopods.
• Together with the dolphins of the genus Cephalorhynchus, it is one of the few dolphins that do not whistle: it communicates with narrow-band, high-frequency clicks.
• During the 1970s and 1980s Chilean fishermen killed thousands each year to use as bait in king-crab pots, a practice that has declined but whose true scale was never quantified.
• The oldest individual dated was 13 years old, from a sample of only 23 aged animals, so its real longevity is probably greater.

Skeleton type

Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (mammal)

Habitat and environment

Coastal waters and continental shelf of the Southern Cone of South America, including the kelp forests

Litter / clutch size

1

Sources consulted: Wikipedia (es): Lagenorhynchus australis

Best time: From October to April, the calving season

The pins mark the parks and dive sites where its presence is documented.