Open Threads

The Hector’s Dolphin Night Thread (02/20)

Hector’s Dolphin, named after one Sir James Hector (with a number of Māori names including tutumairekurai), is a unique creature in a number of ways:

  • Smallest dolphin: Adults are 3-5 feet long;
  • No obvious beak, which one would usually expect in a porpoise, not a dolphin;
  • New Zealand’s only endemic cetacean;
  • An unusual, rounded dorsal fin;
  • Only dolphin that shares a name with an Iliad character;

Look at this adorable ocean friend:

Photo of a Hector's Dolphin leaping into the air, its tail just touching the surface of the water.
“Hector’s Dolphin (Cephalorhynchus hectori) in New Zealand”
photo by: Gregory “Slobirdr” Smith

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