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Dolphin Species
Whilst the Dolphin Information section of this website is designed to give you an overview of the shared characteristics of dolphins in general, this section has been written to give you a more detailed understanding of the different species and their similarities and differences.
Today there are 40 different species of dolphins living in the wild and in captivity across the world. Although all of these species are classified as dolphins, they all have unique and distinctive characteristics which set them apart from one another and make them easily identifiable. This section will outline exactly what those characteristics are and how they adhere to and differ from the general patterns outlined in the previous section.
The particular species of a dolphin makes a huge difference to all elements of their lives. Dolphin size varies depending on their species, as does their life expectancy, their conservation status, length, weight, markings, beak length, fin shape and size, habitat, level of intelligence and gestation period, what they eat, how they hunt and where they live. The different species of dolphin are split across different types: freshwater and saltwater (also referred to as river and marine). All species of dolphin are either adapted to live in freshwater rivers and lakes or in the sea. No species of dolphin can survive in both.
In this section you will be able to look at each species of dolphin in more detail and find out what makes them different to all of the others. You will learn what they look like, where they live, what they eat and whether or not they are endangered and are a priority for conservationists.
You will be able to learn about the distinctive hourglass markings of the common dolphin, why killer whales are actually dolphins, how river dolphins have adapted to survive in freshwater, why Amazon River dolphins are pink and much more.
Although to some extent dolphins look very similar, this guide will give you all of the tools you need to tell the different species apart. This means that if you go off and look for dolphins in the wild, you will be able to tell which dolphins you are looking at. The guide will also let you know which species of dolphin you can expect to see, in which areas of the globe, and where you will have to go to see your favorite dolphin species.
Dolphin Species
Atlantic Spotted Dolphin
Spinner Dolphin
Common Bottlenose Dolphin
Pacific Bottlenose Dolphin
Burrunan
Pacific White-sided Dolphin
Humpback Dolphin
Amazon River Dolphin
Indus River Dolphin
Irrawaddy River Dolphin
Yangtze River Dolphin (Baiji)
Killer Whale (Orca)
Rissos dolphin
Striped dolphin
Dusky dolphin
La Plata dolphin
White beaked dolphin
Black dolphin
Ganges river dolphin
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Dolphin Species
