Mammals · Artiodactyla · Delphinidae
Spinner Dolphin
Stenella longirostris
Least Concern
The species is abundant and widely distributed; it faces no significant short-term risk.
The spinner dolphin is a slender, long-beaked dolphin famous for its acrobatic leaps. Its life follows a strongly marked daily cycle: it spends the day resting as a group in shallow sandy bays, where the pale bottom lets it spot sharks, and at dusk it moves offshore to feed by night on the fish and squid of the deep scattering layer, which rises towards the surface in darkness. Tourist pressure on its resting areas is a growing threat.
Weight
45 kg – 75 kg
Size
1.3 m – 2.4 m
Life expectancy
25 years
