Have you ever seen a spinner dolphin? I haven't (yet), but would like to. These dolphins received their name from their unique ability to leap and spin, which sometimes involves rotating their body more than four times (check out this video on ARKive to see this behavior). Their spinning displays can even be detected at a distance.
Spinner dolphins are a slender dolphin that grows to about 7 feet in length. They can weigh up to about 170 pounds. Their body has a striped appearance, with a dark back, lighter flanks and white underside.
Spinner dolphins are found in warm tropical and subtropical waters including in the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans. Four subspecies of spinner dolphins have been designated, and these are the Gray's spinner dolphin (Stenella longirostris longirostris), Eastern spinner dolphin (S. l. orientalis), Central American spinner dolphin (S.l. centroamericana), and the dwarf spinner dolphin (S.l. roseiventris).
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