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Sea Creature Kingdom

Dolphins

Every single dolphin species on Earth — all 41 of them!

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There are 41 known dolphin species alive today — and one that sadly went extinct. They live in every ocean, tropical rivers, and even freezing Antarctic waters. Let's meet every single one!

Well-Known Ocean Dolphins
Bottlenose Dolphin
Bottlenose Dolphin
Tursiops truncatus
Least Concern
Size
Up to 13 ft
Weight
Up to 1,430 lbs
Diet
Fish, squid, shrimp
Habitat
Worldwide warm seas
Fun Facts
  • Makes up to 1,000 clicking sounds per second
  • Recognises itself in mirrors — one of few animals that can
  • Each dolphin has its own unique whistle name
  • Sleeps with one eye open, resting half its brain at a time
Indo-Pacific Bottlenose Dolphin
Indo-Pacific Bottlenose Dolphin
Tursiops aduncus
Least Concern
Size
Up to 8.5 ft
Weight
Up to 500 lbs
Diet
Fish, squid
Habitat
Indian and Pacific Oceans
Fun Facts
  • Has spots on its belly that get more noticeable with age
  • Uses sea sponges as tools to protect its snout while hunting — genius!
  • Slightly smaller and slimmer than the common bottlenose
  • Often seen in shallow coastal waters and near coral reefs
Common Dolphin
Common Dolphin
Delphinus delphis
Least Concern
Size
6-8 ft
Weight
Up to 300 lbs
Diet
Fish, squid
Speed
Up to 37 mph
Fun Facts
  • One of the fastest dolphins — up to 37 mph
  • Travels in superpods of thousands of dolphins
  • Famous beautiful yellow and grey hourglass pattern
  • Most abundant dolphin species in the world
Long-beaked Common Dolphin
Long-beaked Common Dolphin
Delphinus capensis
Least Concern
Size
6-8.5 ft
Weight
Up to 350 lbs
Diet
Fish, squid
Habitat
Warm coastal waters
Fun Facts
  • Has a noticeably longer beak than the common dolphin
  • Prefers shallow coastal and nearshore waters
  • Found off California, South Africa, and South America
  • Often hunts in coordinated groups to herd fish
Rough-toothed Dolphin
Rough-toothed Dolphin
Steno bredanensis
Least Concern
Size
Up to 9 ft
Weight
Up to 340 lbs
Diet
Fish, squid, octopus
Habitat
Deep tropical waters
Fun Facts
  • Head has no crease between the beak and forehead — very unusual
  • Teeth have tiny ridges on them — that is how it gets its name
  • Known to swim slowly at the surface with head raised
  • Sometimes seen carrying objects like coconuts as toys
Spotted and Striped Dolphins
Spinner Dolphin
Spinner Dolphin
Stenella longirostris
Least Concern
Size
4-7 ft
Weight
Up to 170 lbs
Diet
Fish, squid, shrimp
Habitat
Tropical oceans
Fun Facts
  • Can spin up to 7 times in one leap — like a spinning top
  • Scientists think they spin to communicate or just for fun
  • Often travel alongside yellowfin tuna in the Pacific
  • Very acrobatic and love to bow-ride on boats
Clymene Dolphin
Clymene Dolphin
Stenella clymene
Least Concern
Size
Up to 6.5 ft
Weight
Up to 200 lbs
Diet
Fish, squid
Habitat
Tropical Atlantic
Fun Facts
  • The only other dolphin in the world that spins like a spinner dolphin
  • Also called the "short-snouted spinner dolphin"
  • Found only in the Atlantic Ocean — not the Pacific
  • Relatively little is known about this species — still a mystery
Striped Dolphin
Striped Dolphin
Stenella coeruleoalba
Least Concern
Size
6-9 ft
Weight
Up to 350 lbs
Diet
Fish, squid, crustaceans
Habitat
Warm oceans worldwide
Fun Facts
  • Has stunning blue and white stripes along its body
  • Can leap up to 23 feet in the air
  • One of the most common dolphins in the Mediterranean Sea
  • Very fast — easily keeps up with boats
Atlantic Spotted Dolphin
Atlantic Spotted Dolphin
Stenella frontalis
Least Concern
Size
5-7.5 ft
Weight
Up to 310 lbs
Diet
Fish, squid, invertebrates
Habitat
Tropical Atlantic
Fun Facts
  • Born completely without spots — they develop as the dolphin ages
  • You can tell how old one is by how many spots it has
  • Very playful and often interact with swimmers
  • Love to ride on the bow waves of boats
Pantropical Spotted Dolphin
Pantropical Spotted Dolphin
Stenella attenuata
Least Concern
Size
5-8 ft
Weight
Up to 260 lbs
Diet
Fish, squid
Habitat
All tropical oceans
Fun Facts
  • Most abundant dolphin in the tropical Pacific Ocean
  • Often swim with yellowfin tuna — fishermen once accidentally caught thousands
  • Sleek and slender with a long pointed beak
  • Travel in huge groups of hundreds to thousands
Black and White Dolphins
Commerson's Dolphin
Commerson's Dolphin
Cephalorhynchus commersonii
Least Concern
Size
Up to 5 ft
Weight
Up to 135 lbs
Diet
Fish, squid, crustaceans
Habitat
South America and Indian Ocean
Fun Facts
  • Striking black and white pattern — looks like a tiny orca
  • One of the smallest dolphins in the world
  • Love to body surf in waves and are extremely acrobatic
  • Can swim backwards and upside down
Hourglass Dolphin
Hourglass Dolphin
Lagenorhynchus cruciger
Least Concern
Size
5-6 ft
Weight
Up to 250 lbs
Diet
Fish, squid, crustaceans
Habitat
Antarctic waters
Fun Facts
  • Lives in freezing cold Antarctic and sub-Antarctic waters
  • Its striking black and white hourglass pattern makes it unmistakable
  • One of only a handful of dolphin species to live near Antarctica
  • Rarely seen by humans — one of the least observed dolphins
Northern Right Whale Dolphin
Northern Right Whale Dolphin
Lissodelphis borealis
Least Concern
Size
Up to 10 ft
Weight
Up to 250 lbs
Diet
Fish, squid
Habitat
North Pacific Ocean
Fun Facts
  • Has absolutely NO dorsal fin — totally smooth back
  • Sleek jet black with a white belly and chest patch
  • Extremely fast and graceful swimmers
  • Often seen in huge groups of thousands of dolphins
Southern Right Whale Dolphin
Southern Right Whale Dolphin
Lissodelphis peronii
Least Concern
Size
Up to 9 ft
Weight
Up to 220 lbs
Diet
Fish, squid
Habitat
Southern Hemisphere
Fun Facts
  • Also has NO dorsal fin — like its northern cousin
  • Beautiful black and white coloring with bright white flippers
  • Found in cooler waters of the southern hemisphere
  • Very fast and elegant swimmers
Chilean Dolphin
Chilean Dolphin
Cephalorhynchus eutropia
Near Threatened
Size
Up to 5.5 ft
Weight
Up to 140 lbs
Diet
Fish, squid, crustaceans
Habitat
Chile coastline ONLY
Fun Facts
  • Found ONLY along the coast of Chile — nowhere else
  • Also called the black dolphin because of its dark colouring
  • One of the least studied dolphins in the world
  • Prefers cold, rough coastal waters and channels
Heaviside's Dolphin
Heaviside's Dolphin
Cephalorhynchus heavisidii
Least Concern
Size
Up to 5.5 ft
Weight
Up to 165 lbs
Diet
Fish, squid, octopus
Habitat
Southwest Africa coast
Fun Facts
  • Found only along the coasts of South Africa and Namibia
  • Produces the highest frequency calls of any dolphin — ultrasonic
  • Triangular dorsal fin makes it easy to recognise
  • Very acrobatic — loves to spin and leap
Hector's Dolphin
Hector's and Maui's Dolphin
Cephalorhynchus hectori
Critically Endangered
Size
4-5 ft
Weight
Up to 110 lbs
Diet
Fish, squid, crabs
Habitat
New Zealand ONLY
Fun Facts
  • One of the world's smallest dolphins
  • Found ONLY in New Zealand
  • Maui's dolphin has fewer than 50 individuals left
  • Distinctive rounded black dorsal fin — like Mickey Mouse ears
Atlantic and Pacific Dolphins
White-beaked Dolphin
White-beaked Dolphin
Lagenorhynchus albirostris
Least Concern
Size
Up to 10 ft
Weight
Up to 770 lbs
Diet
Fish, squid, octopus
Habitat
North Atlantic
Fun Facts
  • Named for its distinctive short white or pale beak
  • Common around Iceland, Norway, and the UK
  • One of the larger oceanic dolphin species
  • Often seen in the company of humpback whales feeding together
Atlantic White-sided Dolphin
Atlantic White-sided Dolphin
Lagenorhynchus acutus
Least Concern
Size
6-9 ft
Weight
Up to 510 lbs
Diet
Fish, squid, shrimp
Habitat
North Atlantic Ocean
Fun Facts
  • Has a bright yellow-tan patch on its sides — very striking
  • Highly energetic and acrobatic
  • Common off the coasts of New England and Canada
  • Often travels in large groups of hundreds
Peale's Dolphin
Peale's Dolphin
Lagenorhynchus australis
Least Concern
Size
6.5-7 ft
Weight
Up to 250 lbs
Diet
Fish, squid, octopus
Habitat
South Atlantic and Pacific
Fun Facts
  • Common around the Falkland Islands and Strait of Magellan
  • Named after the American artist Titian Peale who first described it
  • Often seen bow-riding and surfing waves near kelp forests
  • One of the least studied dolphins in the southern hemisphere
Dusky Dolphin
Dusky Dolphin
Lagenorhynchus obscurus
Least Concern
Size
5-7 ft
Weight
Up to 187 lbs
Diet
Fish, squid
Habitat
Southern Hemisphere
Fun Facts
  • Some of the most acrobatic dolphins in the world
  • Often travel with penguins and seabirds
  • Known for amazing backflips and somersaults
  • Common around New Zealand and South America
Pacific White-sided Dolphin
Pacific White-sided Dolphin
Lagenorhynchus obliquidens
Least Concern
Size
5.5-8 ft
Weight
Up to 300 lbs
Diet
Fish, squid
Habitat
North Pacific Ocean
Fun Facts
  • Love to surf on waves made by boats and ships
  • Often seen in large energetic groups off California
  • Striking black, white and grey striped pattern
  • Very curious and playful around humans
Fraser's Dolphin
Fraser's Dolphin
Lagenodelphis hosei
Least Concern
Size
6.5-9 ft
Weight
Up to 460 lbs
Diet
Fish, squid, shrimp
Habitat
Deep tropical oceans
Fun Facts
  • First described from a skull found in a museum — living specimens not found until 1971
  • Lives in very deep water so is rarely seen
  • Has a bold dark stripe from eye to tail
  • Often found stranded in groups on beaches
Risso's Dolphin
Risso's Dolphin
Grampus griseus
Least Concern
Size
8.5-13 ft
Weight
Up to 1,100 lbs
Diet
Almost entirely squid
Habitat
Deep oceans worldwide
Fun Facts
  • Gets more white and scarred as it gets older — like a battle map
  • Very old Risso's dolphins are almost completely white
  • Scars come from squid beaks and fights with other dolphins
  • Has a distinctive rounded bulging forehead with no real beak
The Big Dolphins — Orca and Its Relatives
Orca
Orca (Killer Whale)
Orcinus orca — The LARGEST dolphin of all
Data Deficient
Size
Up to 32 ft
Weight
Up to 22,000 lbs
Diet
Fish, seals, sharks, whales
Lifespan
Up to 90 years
Fun Facts
  • Despite being called a whale, orcas are actually the largest dolphin
  • Live in tight family pods led by the oldest grandmother
  • Different pods have their own unique dialects — like accents
  • Teach each other hunting techniques — this is called culture
  • Found in every ocean on Earth from tropics to Arctic
  • No wild orca has ever killed a human
False Killer Whale
False Killer Whale
Pseudorca crassidens
Least Concern
Size
Up to 20 ft
Weight
Up to 3,300 lbs
Diet
Fish, squid, other dolphins
Habitat
Warm oceans worldwide
Fun Facts
  • Named "false" killer whale because it looks similar to orca but is not as closely related
  • Incredibly social — will share food with other species including humans
  • Known to form friendships with bottlenose dolphins
  • Entirely dark grey to black in colour
Long-finned Pilot Whale
Long-finned Pilot Whale
Globicephala melas
Least Concern
Size
Up to 20 ft
Weight
Up to 5,000 lbs
Diet
Squid, fish
Habitat
Cold North Atlantic and Southern Ocean
Fun Facts
  • Highly social and live in tight family groups
  • Sometimes strand themselves on beaches in large numbers — scientists are not sure why
  • Extremely intelligent and bond deeply with family members
  • Males have a very large rounded melon head — called a "bulge"
Short-finned Pilot Whale
Short-finned Pilot Whale
Globicephala macrorhynchus
Least Concern
Size
Up to 18 ft
Weight
Up to 6,600 lbs
Diet
Squid, fish
Habitat
Warm oceans worldwide
Fun Facts
  • Grandmothers help raise calves even after they stop having babies themselves
  • Can dive to 3,000 feet deep to hunt squid
  • Very vocal — constantly communicating with their family
  • Found in warmer waters than the long-finned pilot whale
Melon-headed Whale
Melon-headed Whale
Peponocephala electra
Least Concern
Size
Up to 9 ft
Weight
Up to 460 lbs
Diet
Fish, squid, octopus
Habitat
Deep tropical oceans
Fun Facts
  • Named for its rounded melon-shaped head with almost no beak
  • Lives in large groups of 100 to 1,500 dolphins
  • Rarely seen because it lives far out in deep open ocean
  • Sometimes called the electra dolphin
Pygmy Killer Whale
Pygmy Killer Whale
Feresa attenuata
Least Concern
Size
Up to 8.5 ft
Weight
Up to 500 lbs
Diet
Fish, squid, other dolphins
Habitat
Deep tropical waters
Fun Facts
  • Despite its scary name it is much smaller than a real killer whale
  • One of the rarest and least observed dolphins
  • Can be quite aggressive toward other dolphin species
  • Has a rounded head with no beak — looks very different from most dolphins
Asian and Australian Dolphins
Irrawaddy Dolphin
Irrawaddy Dolphin
Orcaella brevirostris
Endangered
Size
4.5-9 ft
Weight
Up to 440 lbs
Diet
Fish, squid, octopus
Habitat
SE Asian rivers and coasts
Fun Facts
  • Can squirt water 5 feet from its mouth to herd fish
  • In Myanmar they help fishermen catch fish — real teamwork
  • Has a cute round bulging forehead with almost no beak
  • Only about 85 left in the Mekong River
Australian Snubfin Dolphin
Australian Snubfin Dolphin
Orcaella heinsohni
Near Threatened
Size
Up to 9 ft
Weight
Up to 270 lbs
Diet
Fish, squid, octopus
Habitat
Northern Australia coast
Fun Facts
  • Only discovered and named as a new species in 2005
  • Found only in the shallow coastal waters of northern Australia
  • Looks very similar to the Irrawaddy dolphin — they are close cousins
  • Can also squirt water from its mouth just like the Irrawaddy
Tucuxi
Tucuxi
Sotalia fluviatilis
Endangered
Size
Up to 4.9 ft
Weight
Up to 115 lbs
Diet
Fish
Habitat
Amazon River system
Fun Facts
  • Lives in the Amazon River alongside the pink river dolphin
  • Looks like a tiny bottlenose dolphin but is not closely related
  • One of the smallest dolphins in the world
  • Very shy and avoids boats — hard to study
Guiana Dolphin
Guiana Dolphin
Sotalia guianensis
Least Concern
Size
Up to 7 ft
Weight
Up to 220 lbs
Diet
Fish, squid, shrimp
Habitat
Coastal South America
Fun Facts
  • Close cousin of the Tucuxi but lives in the ocean not the river
  • Has an amazing ability to detect weak electric fields from prey
  • Spotted in harbours and estuaries of South American cities
  • Known to use echolocation at much higher resolution than other dolphins
River Dolphins
Amazon Pink River Dolphin
Amazon Pink River Dolphin
Inia geoffrensis — also called the Boto
Endangered
Size
Up to 8 ft
Weight
Up to 450 lbs
Diet
Fish, turtles, crabs
Habitat
Amazon River, South America
Fun Facts
  • The only dolphin in the world that is pink
  • Gets pinker when excited — just like blushing
  • Can move its neck side to side — no other dolphin can do this
  • During floods it swims through the rainforest among the trees
  • Lives entirely in freshwater
Bolivian River Dolphin
Bolivian River Dolphin
Inia boliviensis
Endangered
Size
Up to 7 ft
Weight
Up to 400 lbs
Diet
Fish
Habitat
Bolivian rivers ONLY
Fun Facts
  • Found ONLY in rivers of Bolivia — its own unique species
  • Pink just like its Amazon cousin
  • Isolated from the Amazon dolphin by waterfalls for millions of years
  • One of the rarest river dolphins in the world
Araguaian River Dolphin
Araguaian River Dolphin
Inia araguaiaensis
Endangered
Size
Up to 7.5 ft
Weight
Up to 340 lbs
Diet
Fish
Habitat
Araguaia River, Brazil
Fun Facts
  • Only discovered and named as a new species in 2014 — brand new to science
  • Lives only in the Araguaia and Tocantins river systems in Brazil
  • Scientists found it by studying DNA — it looks similar to the Amazon dolphin
  • Estimated fewer than 1,000 individuals survive today
Ganges River Dolphin
Ganges River Dolphin
Platanista gangetica gangetica
Endangered
Size
Up to 8.5 ft
Weight
Up to 185 lbs
Diet
Fish, shrimp
Habitat
Ganges River, India
Fun Facts
  • Almost completely blind — navigates entirely by echolocation
  • Known as the Susu from the sound it makes when breathing
  • Swims on its side trailing a flipper along the riverbed to find food
  • The national aquatic animal of India
Indus River Dolphin
Indus River Dolphin
Platanista gangetica minor
Endangered
Size
Up to 8 ft
Weight
Up to 190 lbs
Diet
Fish, shrimp
Habitat
Indus River, Pakistan
Fun Facts
  • Almost completely blind just like the Ganges dolphin
  • Only about 1,800 individuals remain in the Indus River in Pakistan
  • Cousin of the Ganges dolphin — separated long ago by geography
  • Pakistan's national marine mammal
La Plata Dolphin
La Plata Dolphin (Franciscana)
Pontoporia blainvillei
Vulnerable
Size
Up to 5.5 ft
Weight
Up to 115 lbs
Diet
Fish, squid, shrimp
Habitat
South Atlantic coast
Fun Facts
  • Has the longest beak relative to body size of any dolphin in the world
  • Lives in coastal ocean waters off South America — not just rivers
  • One of the smallest dolphins in the world
  • Very shy and is rarely seen — spends most of time alone or in small groups
Baiji
Baiji (Chinese River Dolphin)
Lipotes vexillifer
Possibly Extinct
Size
Up to 8 ft
Weight
Up to 510 lbs
Diet
Fish
Last seen
Around 2006
A Very Sad Story
  • Lived in the Yangtze River in China for 20 million years
  • Called the "Goddess of the Yangtze" in Chinese culture
  • Declared functionally extinct in 2006 — likely the first dolphin driven to extinction by humans
  • Lost due to pollution, fishing nets, boat traffic, and dam building
  • This is why we must protect the dolphins that are still here

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