■'-""■..^J^"'*'***-' 



Figure 104.— Grampus otf Fistler, Scotland 

 (top) and from Baja California in the tank of Sea 

 World, Inc., San Diego, Calif, (bottom). Note 

 the tall pointed dorsal fin, which remains dark 

 even in adult animals, the blunted head, which 

 lacks a beak, and the extensive scarring of the 

 body. In the photo on the right, note also the 

 long pointed flippers and the white head 

 characteristic of older animals. {Pkotos by 

 A. S. Clark [top] and courtesy ofD. K. Caldwell 

 [bottom].) 



Distribution 



Stranded Specimens 



Grampus are known to be distributed in temperate and 

 tropical seas from at least eastern Newfoundland, south at 

 least to St. Vincent, Lesser Antilles, and in the eastern and 

 northern Gulf of Mexico. The species may not be as rare as the 

 paucity of records suggests. Though they have been seen in 

 Buzzards Bay on several occasions, grampus generally have 

 an oceanic range and, along the Atlantic coast of North 

 America, may be distributed from the Gulf Stream seaward, 

 outside the theater of normal boating traffic. 



Stranded grampus are most readily identifiable by 1) the 

 presence of only seven, or fewer, teeth in each side of the 

 lower jaw (many of those teeth may have dropped out in older 

 animals and remaining teeth may be extensively worn) and 

 the absence of teeth in the upper jaw; 2) the presence of a 

 distinct crease or bifurcation in the melon on the extreme 

 front of the head; 3) the presence of numerous scratches and 

 scars all over the body; and 4) the tall, slender, sharply falcate 

 dorsal fin which may be more than 15 inches (38.1 cm) tall. 



97 



