kanaloa

Long Snouted Dolphin

Common Dolphin

(Delphinus delphis)

This handsome ring-eyed dolphin frequents the high seas, but is found in much larger numbers in warm or temperate than in colder waters . Nevertheless, it follows the Gulf Stream as far north as the bleak coasts of Finnmark, Norway. Common Dolphins are especially abundant in the waters about Gibraltar, the Mediterranean, and Black Sea. A similar type is found in the Pacific and Indian Oceans.
Since the days of the Phoenician mariners, the appearance of dolphins alongside a ship has been regarded by sailors as an omen of good fortune, fair weather, and steady winds.
The Common Dolphin grows to a length of 8 feet 6 inches, and has a tapering beak about 6 inches long which is sharply marked off by a deep V-shaped groove from the low sloping forehead. It may be recognized by the saddlelike expansion of the dark upper parts about midway to the flukes. After the dolphins have overtaken a ship and are racing alongside toward the bows, the distinctive arrangement of the colored stripes on the flanks can be seen at the time they make curving leaps clear of the surface and enter the water headfirst with hardly a splash.
The Common Dolphin usually travels in schools and is in the habit of accompanying ships for considerable distances, hovering alongside and executing intricate maneuvers. It can pass ships traveling at 15 or 18 knots. 
The teeth of both jaws interlock perfectly, and, being sharply pointed and curved-backward, are very effective for catching and bolding slippery fish. These dolphins take their food whole and swallow it head first.

Harbor Porpoise (Phocaena phocoena)

Harbor, or Common Porpoises, as they are often called, are found in the North Atlantic Ocean as far north as Iceland and Davis Strait and in the White Sea . They are abundant in the Baltic Sea, around the British Isles, and range south to the Strait of Gibraltar and Cape May, New Jersey.
Similarly, a related porpoise (P. vomerina.) ranges along the Pacific coast of North America from the Pribilof Islands in Bering Sea southward to Banderas Bay, Mexico. Several kinds of porpoises, probably not all distinct, have been described from the coastal waters of Argentina, Chile, and South Africa.
Four to six feet is the usual length of the Harbor Porpoise, It has a blunt, rounded snout, but no distinct beak, and is readily distinguished from all other small cetaceans by having teeth with peculiar spadelike crowns.
Harbor Porpoises usually travel along the coasts in schools numbering from a few to 15 or even 100, and rarely are seen very far offshore. This porpoise usually swims just below the surface and rises to breathe about four times a minute. The breath is expelled from the lungs with a low puffing or hissing noise as the snout and top of the head break the surface.
The calf at birth measures from 30 to 34 inches, and is suckled by the mother while she floats or swims slowly partly on her side. The Harbor Porpoise feeds according to season on herring, pilchard, mackerel, whiting, rock cod, small salmon, and eels, as well as on squids and occasionally-.crustaceans.

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