Dolphin 



Or porpoise? 



There has been a small controversy 

 going on in the scientific world for 

 years. Dolphin or porpoise . . . which 

 word do you prefer to use when refer- 

 ring to the small marine mammal? 



Basically, all cetaceans are whales, 

 though "whale" most commonly refers 

 to the large species. Some scientists 

 argue that the term "porpoise" should 

 be used for all small whales. Others use 

 "porpoise" only for members of the 

 family Phocoenidae and "dolphin" 

 for those cetaceans of the family 

 Delphinidae. Common names may 

 vary from locale to locale and from one 

 scientist to another, but the two 

 families are very much alike. 



To add to the confusion of names, 

 there is also a marine fish, from the 

 genus Coryphaena, known as the 

 dolphin. This fish, which is often 

 caught off the North Carolina coast, 

 grows to a length of six feet and 

 usually stays close to the surface in 

 tropical and sub-tropical seas. The 

 male has a high, bulgy forehead, like 



Mammal 



some cetaceans. However, unlike the 

 air-breathing mammals called 

 dolphins, the fish is completely aquatic 

 and gets its oxygen from the water 

 with gills. The mammal dolphin is 

 warm-blooded while the dolphin fish is 

 cold-blooded. In addition, the tail fins 

 of marine mammals are horizontal; 

 those of all fishes are vertical. 



Frank Schwartz, a marine biologist 

 at the University of North Carolina 



Institute of Marine Sciences in 

 Morehead City, has his own solution 

 for naming the fish and mammals. "If 

 I use the word dolphin, I think of the 

 fish, being a fish man," he says. "If 

 you say porpoise, I know you're talk- 

 ing about a mammal. But, when you 

 say dolphin, I have to ask if it's a fish 

 or mammal to sort them out. Neither 

 is incorrect," he explains, "it's just a 

 matter of personal preference." 



Marine 

 Mammals 

 Reported 

 In N.C. 

 Waters 



Atlantic Right Whale 

 Finback Whale 

 Humpback Whale 

 Sei Whale 

 Sperm Whale 

 Atlantic Beaked Whale 

 Gervais' Beaked Whale 



Goosebeak or Cuvier's Beaked Whale 



True's Beaked Whale 



Atlantic Blackfish or Pilot Whale 



Short-finned Blackfish or Pilot Whale 



Grampus or Risso's Dolphin 



Atlantic Killer Whale 



False Killer Whale 



Florida Manatee 



Minke Whale 



Atlantic Bottlenosed Dolphin 

 Atlantic Harbor Porpoise 

 Common or Atlantic Dolphin 

 Cuvier Dolphin 



Rough-toothed or Longbeak Dolphin 



Pygmy Sperm Whale 



Spinner Dolphin 



Spotted Dolphin 



Striped Dolphin 



Harbor Seal 



Hooded Seal 



Eubalaena glacialis glacialis Muller 

 Balaenoptera physalus Linnaeus 

 Megaptera novaeangliae (Borowski) 

 Balaenoptera borealis Lesson 

 Physeter catodon Linnaeus 

 Mesoplodon densirostris (Blainville) 

 Mesoplodon europaeus Gervais 

 (=M. gervaisi (Deslongchamps) 

 Ziphias cavirostris G. Cuvier 

 Mesoplodon mirus True 

 Globicephala melaena melaena (Traill) 

 Globicephala macrorhyncha (Rice) 

 Grampus griseus G. Cuvier 

 Orcinus orca Linnaeus 

 Pseudorca crassidens Owen 

 Trichechus manatus Linnaeus 

 Balaenoptera acutorostrata Lacepede 1804 

 Tursiops truncatus truncatus (Montagu) 

 Phocoena phocoena Linnaeus 

 Delphinus delphis delphis Linnaeus 

 Stenella frontalis G. Cuvier 

 Steno bradanensis Lesson 

 Kogia breviceps (Blainville) 

 Stenella longirostris (Gray) 

 Stenella plagiodon (Cope) 

 Stenella ceruleoalbus Meyer 

 Phoca vitulina concolor DeKay 

 Cystophora cristata (Erxleben) 



