The Chilean Dolphin also known as the Black Dolphin, is one of four dolphin

Dolphin

Dolphins are marine mammals that are closely related to whales and porpoises. There are almost forty species of dolphin in 17 genera. They vary in size from and , up to and . They are found worldwide, mostly in the shallower seas of the continental shelves, and are carnivores, mostly eating...

s in the Cephalorhynchus

Cephalorhynchus

Cephalorhynchus is a genus in the dolphin family Delphinidae. It consists of four species:*Commerson's Dolphin, Cephalorhyncus commersonii*Chilean Dolphin, Cephalorhyncus eutropia*Heaviside's Dolphin, Cephalorhyncus heavisidii...

genus. The dolphin is only found off the coast of Chile

Chile

Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...

, it is commonly referred to in the country as Tunina.

Physical description

The Chilean Dolphin is a small dolphin at around 170 cm in length, with a blunt head. These characteristics often make for incorrect identification as a porpoise. The Dolphin is thickly-shaped with its girth up to two-thirds its length. The dorsal fin and flippers are small in proportion to body size in comparison with other dolphins. The throat, underside and the closest part of the flippers to the body are white. The remainder of the body is a mix of greys. The Dolphin has 28-34 pairs of teeth in the upper jaw and 29-33 in the lower.

The Dolphin is normally sighted in small groups of around two to ten individuals, with some larger gatherings occasionally sighted.

Longevity, gestation and lactation periods are not known, but are believed to be similar in length to the more studied, and similar, Hector's

Hector's Dolphin

Hector's dolphin is the best-known of the four dolphins in the genus Cephalorhynchus and is found only in New Zealand. At about 1.4 m in length, it is one of the smallest cetaceans....

 and Commerson's Dolphin

Commerson's Dolphin

Commerson's Dolphin is one of four dolphins in the Cephalorhynchus genus. The species has also the common names Skunk Dolphin, Piebald Dolphin and Panda Dolphin...

s which have a gestation period of about ten months to one year and maximum longevity of twenty years.

Population and distribution

The population of the Chilean Dolphin, perhaps one of the least studied of all cetaceans, is not known with certainty. There may be as many as a few thousand individuals, although at least one researcher, Steve Leatherwood, has suggested that the population may be much lower (see also http://www.unep-wcmc.org/cms/pdf/Rpt_Schlatter.PDF for a survey of South American cetacean population with data on the Chilean Dolphin). Whatever its number, the Chilean Dolphin is endemic to the coast of Chile and thought not to migrate. The dolphin is seen over a wider interval of latitudes than other Cephalorhynchus species - from Valparaíso

Valparaíso

Valparaíso is a city and commune of Chile, center of its third largest conurbation and one of the country's most important seaports and an increasing cultural center in the Southwest Pacific hemisphere. The city is the capital of the Valparaíso Province and the Valparaíso Region...

 at 33° S to Cape Horn

Cape Horn

Cape Horn is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island...

 at 55° S. The species appears to prefer areas of shallow water (less than 200 m depth) and in particular enjoys fast-flowing tidal areas and mouths of rivers.

Conservation

The Chilean dolphin is listed on Appendix II Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS). It is listed on Appendix II as it has an unfavourable conservation status or would benefit significantly from international co-operation organised by tailored agreements.

Name

In the early part of the twentieth century the Chilean Dolphin was commonly known as the Black Dolphin. This was later agreed to be a poor choice of name. Most of the few individual specimens studied by scientists were either washed-up individuals whose skin had darkened due to exposure to air or live specimens seen at sea but only at a distance (and so appeared darker than they were). As more specimens were studied it became clear that the back of the dolphin was in fact a mixture of grey colours and that its underside was white. The scientific community are now universally agreed in naming the dolphin Chilean on account of its distribution along the coast of the country.

External links

• Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society
• Whales & Dolphins web page
• yaqu pacha - Organization for the Conservation of South American Aquatic Mammals
• Convention on Migratory Species page on the Chilean dolphin