Did you know dolphins have names? Scientists believe that dolphins develop special whistles for other dolphins, which allows them to recognize and communicate with each other in the ocean, the same way humans identify each other.

<figure class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 1024px;"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Striped dolphin jumping out of the water, from https://cff2.earth.com/uploads/2017/04/20122352/striped_dolphin_stenella_coeruleoalba.jpg</figcaption></figure>

The Striped dolphin prefers deep tropical or warm temperate waters, between 52- and 84-degrees Fahrenheit. These dolphins live in social groups called pods, consisting of between 20 and 100 individuals. They are dark blue or dark grey, with two distinctive stripes along the sides of their bodies extending from the eye to the pectoral flipper, and from the eye to the midpoint between their dorsal fin and tail fin. Males of this species of dolphin may grow up to 9 feet long and weigh 350 pounds, while females can grow to be 8 feet and 330 pounds. They may live to be nearly 60 years old. Striped dolphins hunt fish and cephalopods and are capable of diving to 2,300 feet.

<figure class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 1592px;"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Striped dolphin range, Image from: CCARO, http://www.ccaro.org/local-cetacean-striped-dolphin.php</figcaption></figure>

Striped dolphins exhibit remarkable social behavior within their pods. Within a pod, striped dolphins are often organized into smaller groups based on age, sex or breeding status. They do not interact with other dolphins or whales. Many scientists and fishermen have observed stunning displays of acrobatics by these dolphins, spinning at the surface of the ocean or leaping high into the air.

Striped dolphins are not considered endangered or threatened at this time, but they do face several considerable threats to their survival. The main threat to striped dolphins is entanglement in commercial fishing gear. Additionally, dolphins may face challenges from pollution and disease. 1,000 striped dolphins were killed in the Mediterranean Sea due to a disease outbreak related to pollution in the 1990s.

<figure class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 960px;"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Striped dolphin tangled in fishing gear. Image by Rose Dixon, https://rosedixon.net/2012/12/20/pushing-the-boats-out-again-taiji-terror-tales-1912-201212/striped-dolphin/</figcaption></figure>

This has been On the Ocean, a program made possible by the Department of Oceanography and a production of KAMU-FM on the campus of Texas A&M University in College Station. For more information and links, please go to ocean.tamu.edu and click On the Ocean.

Featured Image from: NOAA https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/striped-dolphin

Script Authors: Karina Carpio and Macy Fidler

Contributing Professor: Dr. Lisa Campbell

Editor: James M. Fiorendino