Several dolphins live in the North Sea. The striped dolphin is not often seen there. He loves the Atlantic Ocean and is a master of surfing the bow waves of large ships. Very occasionally it is seen in the North Sea and sometimes an unfortunate specimen ends up on the beach. Striped dolphins are true aquatic acrobats. They can turn their tails in circles, do somersaults and jump up to seven meters out of the water. Dolphinariums are crazy about these animals, even though they are difficult to train.
Marine mammals and the whale family
- Delphinidae – Acrobats of the sea
- Length and weight
- Distribution of the striped dolphin
- The menu of the striped dolphins
- Communicate by clicking and whistling
- Fishing nets and dolphin hunting
- Names striped dolphin
Delphinidae – Acrobats of the sea
Dolphins are mammals belonging to the cetaceans. They have teeth and that is why we also speak of toothed whales. Their family name is Delphinidae, that is ?? dolphins ?? means. They have a streamlined body and a beautiful drawing of color areas and lines on the sides and back. Their back and dorsal fins are dark gray to blue and the flanks are light gray with dark stripes from eye to flippers and anus. The belly is white to pink and the long stripe on the sides of the dolphin separates the light bottom and dark top.
Length and weight
The striped dolphins males can grow to 2.60 in length, the females generally become a bit shorter. Newborn striped dolphins are about three feet long. They are lovingly but firmly pushed to the surface of the water by their mother to take the first breath. Then the mother teaches her cub what the swimming direction is and that it should keep swimming next to her. Adults can weigh 150 to 157 pounds, newborns weigh just over 11 pounds.
A young once every four years
The striped dolphin gives birth to a baby once every four years. The gestation period is about a year or a little longer and the mother dolphin feeds her child for a year to 20 months. The mother squirts the milk directly from the nipple into the little one’s mouth. Striped dolphins can live up to 60 years old, on average they live to 35 years. A group of dolphins can be divided into three groups: reproducing adults, non-reproducing adults and independent young animals from 2.5 to 3.5 years old.
Distribution of the striped dolphin
Striped dolphins like water with a nice temperature. We encounter them all over the world in warm temperate, tropical and subtropical waters. They are at home in the Atlantic, Indian, Pacific, Mediterranean, Caribbean and Northern Gulf of Mexico. They swim sporadically in the North Sea. They don’t really like water colder than 20 ° C.
Wall painting
In the Mediterranean it is a common species and has been for many centuries. They were already depicted on murals in ancient Greece.
The menu of the striped dolphins
Striped dolphins’ menu includes fish, squid, shrimp, krill and crustaceans. It depends on where they swim what is most ‘on the table’. The dolphins search for their food with a large school of 100 to 500 animals. They hunt in groups, especially at sunset and sunrise, and work together.
Communicate by clicking and whistling
Where whales sing, striped dolphins communicate with each other through clicking and whistling sounds. They also jump out of the water and break the water, as it is called. It is assumed that this ‘water breaking’ is also a form of communication. What is special is that when the dolphins swim in large groups, approximately one third of the group is always above water.
Along with others marine mammals
Striped dolphins often coexist with common dolphins and the groups that merge can grow up to a thousand animals. They are also seen together with other cetaceans.
Fishing nets and dolphin hunting
The world population is estimated at 1.8 million animals. The biggest threat to striped dolphins is the fishing nets of fishermen, who are not waiting for dolphins in their nets. They cut the animals out, also because the fishermen see the dolphins as competitors.
Dolphin Hunters
The animals are also hunted, for example by Japanese dolphin hunters. They are driven or harpooned in the northwestern Pacific to such an extent that they are overfished.
The animals are also caught alive to be traded in the dolphinarium circuit.
Names striped dolphin
- Dutch: striped dolphin
- English: striped dolphin; euphrosyne Dolphin; whitebelly; blue-white dolphin; Meyen’s dolphin; Gray’s Dolphin; streaker porpoise
- French: dauphin bleu et blanc
- Spanish: estenella listada
- German: Blauweißer delphin, Gestreifter delphin
On January 19, 2016, two striped dolphins stranded on the beach of Ameland. It is a mother and her young, who were probably stranded alive on the reef off Ballum and could not get away in the sinking water of the ebb. It is a great rarity that striped dolphins are seen in our area. The last beaching was in 2006 on Vlieland.
Striped dolphins
a. 2006 – Striped Dolphin
B.. 19-1-2016 – Striped dolphin and young