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Striped
dolphin
(Stenella coeruleoalba)
Geographic
distribution
This species
is found in warm temperate, tropical and subtropical waters
worldwide.
Characteristics
This dolphin
is well-shaped. Its dorsal fin is tall and curved. The flanks
are light grey, leading to pink-white undersides and the flippers
are black. It has many dark stripes. Adults measure between
1.8 and 2.5m, and weigh from 90-150kg.
This species eats mid water fish and squid.
Behaviour
Striped dolphins
live in big group, that range from a few animals to a thousand.
Within each group there are three segregations: non-mating
adults, mating adults and juveniles. Striped dolphins are regularly
bow riding and jumping from the water.
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Influence
of man
The striped
dolphin, like for other cetaceans, are threatened by the
pollution and climate change, that reduce their availability
of prey, even if striped dolphins have apparently increased
in numbers in the western Mediterranean in recent decades,
occupying the niche of the common dolphin.
After a spill of a contaminant in Valencia, in early July 1990, hundreds
of dead striped dolphins were washed up along the Spanish, French and
Italian coasts, as well as on North African shores. During the summer
of 1991, several hundred dead and dying dolphins were washed up on the
beaches of southern Italy and Greece.
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