Bottlenose Dolphin
Tursiops truncatus
Striped Dolphin
Stenella coeruleoalba
About
The Striped Dolphin is a dolphin that lives far offshore in most of the world's warmer oceans. It is easy to spot at sea thanks to its bold black stripes. Adults can reach up to 260 cm long and weigh as much as 156 kg.
Also known as: blue-white dolphin, euphrosyne dolphin, gray's dolphin, stenella coeruleoalba
- Length
- 2.6 m
- Weight
- max 156 kg
- Depth
- up to 4600 m
How to tell it apart
Several similar-sized dolphins share these waters, including spotted and Clymene dolphins. The long black side-stripe described above, curving down toward the tail, is the clearest way to tell a Striped Dolphin apart from them at sea.
Appearance
This dolphin is close in size and shape to several other dolphins that share its waters, but its colours set it apart. The underside is blue, white, or pink, and a black band circles each eye and runs back along the body to the flipper. A second, longer black stripe runs from behind the ear, growing thicker along the side and curving down under the belly near the tail. Above the stripes, the sides are light blue or grey, and the flippers, back fin, and tail are all black.
Habitat
It lives in warm and mild waters far from shore, across the Atlantic, Mediterranean, Indian, and Pacific Oceans. It is mostly found far out at sea but sometimes moves into coastal waters to feed, and it can dive deep to hunt.
Diet
The Striped Dolphin hunts fish, squid, octopus, and small crustaceans such as krill at all depths. Mediterranean dolphins eat mainly hake, sardine, and squid-like animals, while those in the northeast Atlantic rely more on fish such as lanternfish.
Is it dangerous?
harmless to humans
Conservation
The Striped Dolphin is listed as least concern overall, though some smaller groups have dropped noticeably in recent decades. In the early 1990s, a virus outbreak made worse by heavy pollution killed a large share of the Mediterranean group; later outbreaks there have been milder as pollution has fallen. Several international agreements now protect the species across parts of its range.
Did you know?
Because it lives for decades and plays an important role in Japan's pelagic food web, the Striped Dolphin is used by scientists to track the long-term buildup of heavy metals in the ocean.
Log it in Into the Blue
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