Species: Lissodelphis borealis
Northern Right Whale Dolphin
Species
Encyclopedia of Puget Sound
Classification
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Craniata
Class
Mammalia
Order
Cetacea
Family
Delphinidae
Genus
Lissodelphis
NatureServe
Classification
Other Global Common Names
Northern Right-whale Dolphin - dauphin à dos lisse
Informal Taxonomy
Animals, Vertebrates - Mammals - Whales and Dolphins
Formal Taxonomy
Animalia - Craniata - Mammalia - Cetacea - Delphinidae - Lissodelphis - of the Southern Hemisphere.
Ecology and Life History
Habitat Type Description
Marine
Migration
false - true - false - Distribution tends to shift south and inshore during cooler months, north and offshore summer through fall; movement possibly are related to the availability of spawning squid (Leatherwood and Reeves 1983, Jefferson and Newcomer 1993).
Non-migrant
false
Locally Migrant
true
Food Comments
Most common food items are market squid and lanternfish; other prey includes other squids, Pacific hake, saury, and epi- and mesopelagic fishes of the families Centrolophidae, Melamphaidae, Bathylagidae, and Paralepididae (Leatherwood and Reeves 1983, Jefferson and Newcomer 1993).
Reproduction Comments
Newborn are most commonly reported in winter or early spring; sexually mature at length of about 2 m (Leatherwood and Reeves 1983, Jefferson and Newcomer 1993). Based on samples caught in squid driftnets in the central North Pacific, about half of females were mature; among mature females, 16% were pregnant, 3% were pregnant and lactating, 33% were post partum, 24% were lactating (no recent pregnancy), 10% were resting, and 14% were of unknown condition; gestation period was 12.1-12.3 months; calving appeared to peak in July and August; average of sexual maturity was 10 years; the oldest male was 27 years old, the oldest female 42 years old; minimum calving interval was 2 years (Ferrero and Walker 1993).
Ecology Comments
Travels in groups of up to several thousand; average group size about 100 (eastern Pacific) to 200 (western Pacific). Commonly associates with other cetaceans, especially the Pacific white-sided dolphin. Tends to avoid boats but may bowride. Fast swimmer.
Length
310
Conservation Status
NatureServe Global Status Rank
G4
Global Status Last Reviewed
2003-11-12
Global Status Last Changed
1996-11-15
Distribution
Conservation Status Map
<img src="http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/servlet/GetMapGif?CA.BC=S4&US.CA=SNR&US.OR=__" alt="Conservation Status Map" style="width: 475px; height: auto;" />
Global Range
North Pacific Ocean, mainly in moderate temperate waters. Mainly British Columbia to Baja California, Kuril Islands to Japan in western Pacific; sometimes north to Aleutians and Gulf of Alaska; in the eastern Pacific, apparently most common off central and southern California; at least as far south as 35 degrees north in the central Pacific (Jefferson and Newcomer 1993). Rare in Canadian waters (Baird and Stacey 1991). Eastern and western Pacific populations may be separated by an area of very low density south of the western Aleutians (Leatherwood and Reeves 1983).