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Spinner Dolphins

Spinner dolphins in a small inlet off the Kona coast, Hawaii.
(Joesph Tepper, New York)

The dolphins in this picture are spinner dolphins, (Stenella longirostris) named for how they spin in the air when they leap from the water. Spinner dolphins have four sub-species: the eastern spinner dolphin, the Central American spinner dolphin, Gray’s spinner dolphin, and the Dwarf spinner dolphin. Spinner dolphins live around the equator, and have been known to form strong bonds between mothers and calves. They communicate through whistles and clicks, and hunt with echolocation. This species of spinner dolphin hunts fish at night, in a process where they surround a school of fish, and one at a time dive through it to catch them.