White Sided Dolpin

Facts about White Sided Dolpins, "Scientific name for White Sided Dolpin is Lagenorhynchus acutus". There are two main species of white sided dolphins – Atlantic and Pacific. The White Sided Dolpin live in the cooler waters of the Atlantic Ocean, in the waters north of the bottlenose dolphin’s habitat. The White Sided Dolpin has a strongly hooked dorsal fin. Males grow to be around nine feet (2.74 meters) long, while the smaller females reach eight feet (2.43 meters) in length. Males and females range from four hundred to five hundred pounds (181.4 to 226.8 kg) in weight.
Atlantic white sided dolpins have yellow and white patches behind their dorsal fin, which is unique among dolphins. The rest of the body of the Atlantic White Sided Dolpin is mostly white, though the flippers, back and dorsal fin are mostly grey or black. There is also usually a white patch near the dorsal fin.

The Pacific White Sided Dolphin has been given the species name Lagenorhynchus obliquidens. The Pacific White Sided Dolphin grow up to two and a half meters or eight feet in length. Their dorsal fins are strongly hooked. The Pacific white sided dolphins are dark or even black on their back and belly but have large gray or white patches on their sides, hence the name.
Pacific white sided dolphins only live in the Pacific, but they range from Asia to North America. They commonly migrated along the American Pacific coast with the seasons, spending winters near southern California and summers near Oregon and Washington. Another large population migrates from Japan to the Kuril islands. The Pacific species is slightly smaller than the Atlantic one, with females growing to be about seven and a half feet (2.28 meters) long while males reach eight feet (2.43 meters).

Both species of white sided dolphins reach maturity between six and twelve years of age and give birth after eleven months. Calves nurse for about a year and a half. In the wild, the White Sided Dolpin live twenty to thirty years.

The White Sided Dolpin eat fish like mackerel, squid and herring. Atlantic white sided dolphins live in groups of thirty to sixty, while the Pacific species has groups with around a hundred individuals.

It is estimated that there are two hundred to three hundred thousand Atlantic white sided dolphins. They have been hunted in the past, but they are no longer hunted except by residents in the Faroe Islands, Norway and Newfoundland. There are an estimated million Pacific white sided dolphins, though this count may be inflated because the Pacific species is attracted by the bow waves of boats. Pacific white sided dolphins are still hunted by the Japanese.