Spinner Dolphin

The spinner dolphin is a small dolphin of offshore tropical waters around the world, famous for leaping and spinning around its long axis. It is typically 129–235 cm long and weighs 23–79 kg. The colour pattern is usually three-part: a dark grey back, light grey sides and a pale grey or white belly, with a dark band from the eye to the flipper. It varies more in form and coloration across regions than other cetaceans (Wikipedia, general species account).

It follows a daily schedule, resting and socialising in shallow coastal waters in the morning and travelling offshore to forage at night. It feeds mainly on small mesopelagic fish, squid and sergestid shrimp, diving 200–300 m for them. Sharks prey on it. Its occurrence in Japanese waters is documented by the National Museum of Nature and Science marine-mammal database. The museum database also maintains verified Japanese stranding records used to document marine-mammal occurrence.