Trivia question for Sep-25-2011

Carter loves these guys and feels sorry for them because so many still get caught up in tuna nets. Here is what he learned.  There are two species within this polka-dotted dolphin family which inhabit the warmer oceans of the world.  Each one of these dolphins has its own unique call pattern, known as a signature whistle, enabling it to be identified by members of its pod.

This Dolphin’s propensity for associating with Yellowfin Tuna, particularly in the eastern Pacific has in recent history been a very real danger. In the 1960s and 1970s fishermen would capture thousands of dolphin and tuna at once using purse seine nets. The dolphins all died. Over a period of about 25 years 75% of this region’s population, and over half the world’s total was wiped out.

So here are Carter’s questions: Tell us what this dolphin is called and how often they have twins?  Also, these guys are known to travel in super-pods.  Tell us how many individuals can be in these large pods?

Good Luck 😉

Answer:

Well, Carter did it again, no one was able to get all of his trivia correct this time.  The dolphin we featured is the Spotted Dolphin.  The Spotted Dolphin or Pan-tropical Spotted Dolphin is a species of dolphin found in all the world’s temperate and tropical oceans. The species was beginning to come under threat due to the killing of millions of individuals in tuna purse seines. The 1980s saw the rise of “dolphin-friendly” tuna capture methods in order to save millions of the species in the eastern Pacific Ocean and it is now one of the most abundant dolphin species in the world.

Spotted dolphins are just like humans when it comes to having twins, they are extremely rare.  Immense pods of pan-tropical spotted dolphins sometimes form in the western Pacific Ocean, occasionally containing as many a 4,000 individuals.  Here is more on these cool dolphins: Spotted Dolphin

Thanks for playing along 😉