A species
The striped dolphin
Cetacean - Odontocete - Delphinidae - Stenella coeruleoalba - Striped dolphin
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Size
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Approximated
weight
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On average for the
species
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1,80 m to 2,20 m
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80 kg to 100 kg
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The
striped dolphin is probably the most abundant cetacean of the Mediterranean
Sea. Its back is dark blue-grey, the flanks are light grey and the belly
is white. The striped dolphins are often demonstratives. We frequently
see them jump and they come play at the bow of the boat.
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The striped dolphin can be recognised with its flame-like light grey mark on the side from the head to the dorsal fin. Two black lateral lines going from the eye to the pectoral fin and from the eye to the anus are also very characteristic of this species.
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We often find it in groups of hundreds of individuals, and sometimes thousands but smaller groups of a few dolphins are common during the day. Segregation by age and sex has sometimes been observed. The big groups, formed mainly by sub adults, can be completely devoid of adult males and only a few mature females are present.
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Gestation lasts for about 12 months. The juveniles begin to eat small fish from the age of 3 months, but the weaning ends only in their second year. They attain sexual maturity at the age of 4 or 6, however the first reproduction does not come until they are 10 or 15 years old. Females probably give birth every 3 to 4 years. Their menus are made of small fishes but also squids and shrimps.
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Female suckling its calf |
The striped dolphin is largely distributed in tropical and temperate seas. We find him most of the time in the open sea, off the continental plate. Fishermen of the Japanese Pacific coast hunt striped dolphins for centuries by pushing them to the coast before they harpoon them. Annual catching in the sixties went up to 20 000 animals.
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Mediterranean individuals are a little bit smaller than the Atlantic ones where we observe sexual dimorphism (males are bigger and heavier than females), almost absent in the Mediterranean Sea.
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 Photos Jean-Michel Bompar Common dolphin
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CIRCE Newsletter n° 2 - June 2002 - made by Philippe Verborgh, Anne Collet & Jean-Michel Bompar