1/100th of an orca

I’m guessing that unless you grew up in a place where dolphins live (lucky you), a dolphin is a dolphin is a dolphin. But gradually over the years I have realized this is pure ignorance. There are 42 species of dolphin (not counting porpoises), orcas being the largest (up to 6,600Kg.) In the waters off southern Chile, we saw two of the smallest: Peale’s Dolphin, Lagenorhynchus australis, and the Chilean Dolphin, Cephalorhynchus eutropia.

The Chilean Dolphin is one of the world’s smallest; at around 63Kg. it is 1/100th the size of an orca, and it is found nowhere else in the world. It is a short, fat dolphin, called tonina in Chile.

Unlike many dolphins, it doesn’t always appear to enjoy being near boats, but these were pretty playful:

We saw a small group of three or four, which is typical, but they can form pods of up to 50. They have a distinctive short rounded dorsal fin, and a black stripe from blowhole to eyes to fins, just visible on the closest one here:

One of these has been hit by a boat, and injured its dorsal fin:

Their bellies are white, and for a while they swam loops under our boat, upside down, giving us a good look:

They favor shallow waters and estuaries, which makes them vulnerable to boat traffic and pollution. It is thought there are no more than 5000 left in the wild, and in Chile although they are now protected enforcement is difficult, and some fishermen still use their meat as crab bait.

As it happens, the day we were out on the Maullin River estuary watching these rare dolphins was Thanksgiving Day, and we were lucky enough to see a mother and baby, something very special to give thanks for:

On a different day, we also saw Peale’s dolphins, a little larger, and now thought to be related to the Chilean Dolphin. They are found all round the southern end if South America, in both oceans, and the population is probably more than 21,000 .