Portal:Cetaceans/Selected Picture/Archive

Image:Tursiops truncatus 01.jpg

A bottlenose dolphin surfs the wake of a research boat on the Banana River - near the Kennedy Space Center

The Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) is the most common and well-known dolphin species. It inhabits warm and temperate seas worldwide and may be found in all but the Arctic and the Antarctic Oceans.

Spyhopping is the act of coming out of the water vertically and momentarily staying out of the water in a manner akin to a human treading water. A powerful individual can spyhop as much as half of its body out of the water. The reasons for spyhopping are likely to be similar to those of breaching. Further spyhops may well be used so that the whale can examine its surroundings above the surface — for instance to look at boats. For this a spyhop may be more useful than a breach, because the view is held steady for a longer period of time.

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