Individuals are known to live for up to 22 years (males) and 27 years (females).
(meta data) TITLE: Atlantic White-Sided Dolphin (Lagenorhynchus acutus) :: NOAA Fisheries 39 captures 05 Sep 2015 - 09 Oct 2022 About this capture COLLECTED BY Organization: Internet Archive These crawls are part of an effort to archive pages as they are created and archive the pages that they refer to. That way, as the pages that are referenced are changed or taken from the web, a link to the version that was live when the page was written will be preserved. Then the Internet Archive hopes that references to these archived pages will be put in place of a link that would be otherwise be broken, or a companion link to allow people to see what was originally intended by a page's authors. The goal is to fix all broken links on the web. Crawls of supported "No More 404" sites. Collection: Wikipedia Near Real Time (from IRC) This is a collection of web page captures from links added to, or changed on, Wikipedia pages. 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Atlantic white-sided dolphins have a yellowish-tan streak on their sides. They are limited to the temperate waters of the North Atlantic. They live in groups of a few individuals to several hundred dolphins. Most calves are born in June and July. ## Status MMPA - Atlantic white-sided dolphins, like all marine mammals, are protected under the MMPA CITES Appendix II - throughout its range ## Species Description Weight: 400-500 pounds (180-225 kg) Length: up to 9 feet (3 m) Appearance: black, with white belly and lower beak Lifespan: about 25 years Diet: fish (like mackerel, herring and hake), squid, and shrimp Behavior: highly social and playful animals, commonly seen lobtailing and breaching Atlantic white-sided dolphins have a robust body, short beak, and a distinct color pattern, including a bi-colored beak. Their back, fluke, flippers, dorsal fin, and top beak are black, while their belly and lower beak are white. Their sides are gray, with a white patch that begins below the dorsal fin and is flanked by a yellowish-tan streak that extends to the fluke, or tail. Atlantic white-sided dolphins can sometimes be confused with the white-beaked dolphin, which shares a similar distribution pattern. Males reach lengths of about 9 feet (3 m) and females grow to about 8 feet (2.5 m). The average adult Atlantic white-sided dolphin weighs about 400-500 pounds (180-225 kg). They have a lifespan of approximately 25 years. Atlantic white-sided dolphins are highly social and playful animals. They have been seen traveling in small groups of a few individuals and in large aggregations of up to 500 animals. They are commonly observed engaging in acrobatic activities, such as lobtailing and breaching. Atlantic white-sided dolphins are capable of holding their breath for nearly 5 minutes. They dive to feed on prey, such as fish (e.g., mackerel, herring and hake), as well as squid and shrimp. They are often seen in association with long-finned pilot whales, humpback whales, and fin whales while feeding. Females reach sexual maturity and begin breeding between 6 to 12 years of age, when they reach lengths of about 7 feet (2.1 m). The gestation period is 11 months and lactation occurs for 12-18 months. Females typically give birth to a single calf about every other year. Breeding season is from May to August, though most calves are born in June and July. ## Habitat Atlantic white-sided dolphins are found only in temperate waters of the North Atlantic Ocean. They inhabit the oceanic waters of the continental shelf and slope. ## Distribution Atlantic white-sided dolphins are found in the western North Atlantic from 35°-80° N, from North Carolina to Greenland. This species exhibits seasonal movements, moving closer inshore and north in the summers and offshore and south in the winters. ## Population Trends The most recent stock assessment reports with population estimates are available on our website. ## Threats incidental capture and entanglement in fisheries, such as trawls, gillnets, and driftnets. Mass strandings of white-sided dolphins are common occurrences in the Northeast U.S. Although the cause of stranding often is unknown, there are several documented strandings related to fishery interactions. ## Conservation Efforts The Atlantic Trawl Gear Take Reduction Team and Plan addresses the incidental bycatch of white-sided dolphins--as well as long-finned pilot whales (Globicephala melas), short-finned pilot whales (Globicephala macrorhynchus), and common dolphins (Delphinus delphis)--in bottom and mid-water trawl fisheries in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. ## Regulatory Overview This species is protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, as amended. ## Taxonomy Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Cetacea Family: Delphinidae Genus: Lagenorhynchus Species: acutus ## Key Documents (All documents are in PDF format.) Federal Register Atlantic Trawl Gear Take Reduction Plan 71 FR 54273 Stock Assessment Reports n/a ## More Information International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Atlantic White-Sided Dolphin Species Information Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS-SEAMAP) Atlantic White-Sided Dolphin Species Profile Updated: January 15, 2015
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Atlantic white-sided dolphin
Description.
The dolphin is slightly larger than most other oceanic dolphins. It is just over a meter in length at birth, growing to about 2.8 m (9.2 ft) (males) and 2.5 m (8.2 ft) (females) at maturity. It weighs 200–230 kg (440–510 lb) once fully-grown. Females reach sexual maturity at between 6 and 12 years, and males between 7 and 11 years. The gestation period is 11 months and lactation lasts for about a year and a half — both typical figures for dolphins.