{"id":2438,"date":"2016-12-14T06:36:31","date_gmt":"2016-12-14T06:36:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/scuba.cr\/?p=2438"},"modified":"2016-12-14T06:45:55","modified_gmt":"2016-12-14T06:45:55","slug":"dolphins-of-costa-rica","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scuba.cr\/?p=2438","title":{"rendered":"Dolphins of Costa Rica"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Photo courtesy from Dolphin Research Center<\/p><\/div>
\nDuring your stay in Costa Rica and maybe one of your sea adventures, you will surely see a dolphin jumping out of the water. If you happen to be in a family vacation, your kids will most probably say to you \u201cMommy Daddy, it\u2019s a dolphin\u201d. I\u2019m sure you will be glad in seeing your kid\u2019s keen observation. But wait until they ask you: Mommy Daddy, what type of dolphin is that?<\/p>\n

Before facing that embarrassing situation where you possibly do not know the answer, it is best to know beforehand the kinds of dolphins in Costa Rica and personally educate your kids, not just through cartoon or fantasy movies, but using nature\u2019s vast laboratory.<\/p>\n

Types of Dolphins in Costa Rica<\/h2>\n

Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus<\/em>)<\/h3>\n

Max. Length:<\/strong> 380 centimeters
\nMax. Weight: <\/strong>650 kilograms
\na value:<\/strong> 0.2754
\nb value:<\/strong> 2.730
\nFrequency:<\/strong> Common but prone to fishing by-catch<\/p>\n

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Photo courtesy from Gaia Tours<\/p><\/div>\n

Considered as the largest species of beaked dolphins, Bottlenose dolphins can grow up to 4 meters in length. Unlike their spinner cousins with a 3-color pattern, the body of a bottlenose dolphin is uniformly colored in grey with a white tone on its belly called as the ventral portion. Their name is derived from the bottle-like shaped beak.<\/p>\n

Bottlenose dolphins thrive in waters with temperatures ranging from 50 \u2013 90 O<\/sup>F (10 \u2013 32 O<\/sup>C). As mammals, they need to surface and breathe every 1 \u2013 2 minutes. But when they do a deep dive in search for food, the can hold their breath for up to 5 minutes.<\/p>\n

For more information, please read our related article on Bottlenose Dolphin<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Spotted Dolphin (Stenella attenuata<\/em>)<\/h3>\n

Max. Length:<\/strong> 260 centimeters
\nMax. Weight:<\/strong> 120 kilograms
\na value:<\/strong> 0.0696
\nb value:<\/strong> 2.612
\nFrequency:<\/strong> Common but prone to fishing by-catch<\/p>\n

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Photo courtesy from Flickr<\/p><\/div>\n

Just imagine a bottlenose dolphin with small white spots scattered especially in its middle and lower parts of the body, that\u2019s your spotted dolphin. But it can be quite tricky to identify a juvenile spotted dolphin since the white spots are only evident during adulthood.<\/p>\n

But regardless of a juvenile or adult individual, the bright white snout is one of the easy identifying marks a spotted dolphin have. But you should be aware that the skin of a spotted dolphin is often associated with bacteria and parasites. So do not touch it, even if it presents itself for a close interaction.<\/p>\n

Spinner Dolphin (Stenella longirostris<\/em>)<\/h3>\n

Max. Length:<\/strong> 240 centimeters
\nMax. Weight:<\/strong> 77 kilograms
\na value:<\/strong> 0.0696
\nb value:<\/strong> 2.612
\nFrequency:<\/strong> Common but prone to fishing by-catch<\/p>\n

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Photo courtesy from IUCN<\/p><\/div>\n

Aside from its small and slender body with a long beak, you can easily identify a spinner dolphin through its 3-color combination. The upper dorsal side is usually colored dark grey, a lighter grey field on the side of its body and white on the lower ventral portion. On top of this, a dark banded line is visible that runs from its eyes going to the side flippers or pectoral fin.<\/p>\n

The common behavior of spinner dolphins is that they rest during the day and feeds most of the night on fish and squids. But on some occasions, they actively feed during the day especially when they are following a school of small fish like sardines. They may seek refuge in shallow waters if predators are present in the deep open water ocean.<\/p>\n

For more information, please read our related article on Spinner Dolphin<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Rough-Toothed Dolphin (Steno bredanensis<\/em>)<\/h3>\n

Max. Length:<\/strong> 280 centimeters
\nMax. Weight:<\/strong> 150 kilograms
\na value:<\/strong> 0.4403
\nb value:<\/strong> 2.869
\nFrequency:<\/strong> Common but prone to fishing by-catch<\/p>\n

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Photo courtesy from Elhogarnatural<\/p><\/div>\n

Rough-toothed dolphins can easily be mistaken with spotted dolphins where their body features some white pigmentation especially in adults. For this purpose and for easy identification, we suggest you observe the head that has a conical shape with a narrow beak.<\/p>\n

As the name suggest, rough toothed dolphins have a distinctive rough tooth formed in narrow irregular ridges which can go up to 28 teeth in every quarter of its jaw. They are also known as one of the best breath-holders where they can dive in search for food up to 15 minutes before surfacing up.<\/p>\n

Common Dolphin (Delphinus delphis<\/em>)<\/h3>\n

Max. Length:<\/strong> 260 centimeters
\nMax. Weight:<\/strong> 135 kilograms
\na value:<\/strong> 0.2754
\nb value:<\/strong> 2.360
\nFrequency:<\/strong> Common but prone to fishing by-catch<\/p>\n

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Photo courtesy from animalzoo<\/p><\/div>\n

This medium-sized dolphin has a very unique and unusual body coloration where the upper portion is colored black and the lower portion is white. What makes it unusual is that it has a specially-shaped pattern that looks like an hourglass which is colored light grey on one side of the hourglass and yellow gold on the other side. Common dolphins have 50 to 60 small but sharp teeth on each jaw making them the perfect predator of fish and squids.<\/p>\n

The Best Time and Place to Encounter Dolphins in Costa Rica<\/h2>\n

While the waters surrounding Costa Rica hosts several dolphin species whole year round, there are some areas where dolphins congregate where you can some of them taking care of their young.<\/p>\n

Located in northwestern coast of Costa Rica, the Santa Rosa National Park is popular as a haven for dolphins particularly the species of bottlenose dolphins. There are two dolphin seasons each year which runs from July to November and December to March.<\/p>\n

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Photo courtesy from allposters.com<\/p><\/div>\n

During the season, tourist and nature lover around the world flock this marine protected area where they can see a huge pod of dolphins either playing, leaping out of the water, taking care of their young or in the run following a food trail like the famous sardine run.<\/p>\n

If you happen to sign up for a liveaboard cruise or offshore diving, then you will not come back to the mainland without seeing a dolphin in close sight as Costa Rica\u2019s offshore site like Cocos Island is a vast playground for dolphins.<\/p>\n

After reading this article, we are sure you will be confident enough to answer your kids question by reiterating the different dolphin descriptions we had just described earlier.<\/p>\n