There are only about 25 in captivity, so I was lucky to see two at Sea World in San Diego. I watched them for about 45 minutes, and they both swam around their tank upside-down the whole time.
Why?
There's no good reason, but this dolphin loves to spin and leap out of the water; they are very active...so maybe swimming upside-down is just fun!
So who is this guy?
Well, he's known as the Panda dolphin, the Skunk dolphin, and the Piebald dolphin, but this little guy's real name is:
Commerson's dolphin.
There are a few types of dolphins that have black and white coloring and we'll check them out, but here's how you can tell a Commerson's dolphin:
1st IK*: All fins are black
2nd IK: The head and tail are also black
3rd IK: The sides and underjaw are white
But really, you just need to remember this: if you see a dolphin swimming upside-down, and its coloring reminds you of a panda, you've probably spotted a Commerson's dolphin!
*Identification Key, or IKs, are characteristics used to identify an animal. (More about identification keys here.)
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