The Pantropical Spotted Dolphin Of Tutuila, American Samoa (Stenella Attenuata)

The Pantropical Spotted Dolphin Of Tutuila, American Samoa (Stenella Attenuata) This months article series will discuss.. The Island of Tutuila! Tutuila is the largest & capital island in the archipelago known as American Samoa. This island is a territory of the United States Of America. It is in the middle of Oceania. It is incredibly far from the closest continent that is considered mainland. It stands at 17,439.11 nautical miles from the continent of Australia. It is 15,939.46 miles from the country of China. It is also 7,830.43 Nautical miles from Antarctica. It is extremely biodiverse due to its nutrients, good climate, & marine protected areas. It also is an attractive area for animals to mate or give birth. The isle is also a common place to find water birds, however for the purpose of this article we will not count them as fully marine animals. However, this article is not for the purpose of discussing the oceans that surround Tutuila. This article is for the purpose of discussing a common animal found in these oceans. That animal, is known as the Pantropical Spotted Dolphin. This animal is a species of dolphin that is found throughout many corners of the world. It however, is found in a higher density throughout Tutuila. These creatures are beautiful & incredibly intelligent creatures. They are capable of using certain oceanic creatures as tools. They often interact with humans in many different ways, they seem to be curious about the human race as they are friendly. However this does not mean that you should approach them as they are still wild creatures & are untamed. This dolphin species is especially friendly towards humans. In this article we will discuss the life of the Pantropical Spotted Dolphin, the mating procedures, tactics, practices, & cycles of the Pantropical Spotted Dolphin , the distribution of the Pantropical Spotted Dolphin, & finally the scientific detailings of the Pantropical Spotted Dolphin. With that being said, let us delve into this interesting, complex, important, & brilliant species. The Life Of The Pantropical Spotted Dolphin This species was first described in 1846, the very genetically close genus however was first described in 1829. The species was first described by french naturalist, Jean Léopold Nicolas Frédéric Baron Cuvier. This is often just abbreviated as Cuvier. It is not mentioned exactly how this creature was discovered, but it can be assumed that it was on a voyage through oceania. Their size is approximately 8.2 feet (2.49936 meters) as a full grown adult, this size estimation is not taking into account gender. The approximate mass of this creature is 260 pounds (117.934 kilograms). Their average lifespan is 43 years. This is actually quite fair for a dolphin. Maturity usually occurs at around 11 years of age. It is a well known fact that dolphins are incredibly smart. They are able to communicate their needs with each other & humans. They are also capable of learning tricks or mirroring other dolphins behaviours. Some studies suggest that dolphins are some of the smartest animals, only second to humans. They are incredibly social animals & seem to have almost their own language. They will make clicking noises towards each other. Using brain size as a barometer, dolphins come in very close to humans in brain to body size ratio. They seem to be the second animals on this scale. However, the vast majority of the ocean is still undiscovered so this very well may change. They also, have developed a use for underwater echolocation. They use echolocation in order to hunt in particularly deep water or water with very low visibility. They also have excellent memories, they are able to remember the faces of their caretakers in certain areas like rehabilitation centers. They also will favour certain humans over others. They are able to crave or want attention from certain humans, this is most well documented in the Nasa-funded experiment known as “Dolphinarium”. In this experiment Margaret Howe Lovatt attempted to teach an adolescent dolphin “Peter” to speak English. This did not work as Peter would become sexually aroused. This experiment proved that dolphins can apparently, lust after humans. This says a lot about the neuroscience behind love in dolphins & how it is eerily similar to humans. Dolphins as a whole have existed for approximately 11 million years. The diet of this creature usually consists of cephalopods & fish. They are not cannibalistic in any form. They usually eat approximately between 16-27 pounds of food. Their metabolism is similar to that of most land mammals. Their most common natural predators are various larger species of sharks & Orcas. Dolphins effectively swim by arching their backs & moving their flukes vertically up & down at a vary fast pace in order to generate momentum in the water and propel themselves forward. At top speed this species of dolphin has been recorded as traveling as fast as 28 kilometers per hour (17.3984 miles per hour). They are not aggressive towards humans unless provoked. They are however, extremely aggressive to each other. Especially during breeding season. They are incredibly social creatures. They can be territorial & males will battle males over certain territories, with females this is not the same. This species is listed as least concern on the IUCN red list. This means that this species is not in need of any conservational assistance & is thriving on its own. There are an estimated 2.5 million of Pantropical spotted dolphins alive at this point. Pantopical spotted dolphins are long & slender creatures in their physical aspects. Pantropical spotted dolphins do not have spots at birth but accumulate them as they age until they are almost completely covered with overlapping patterns. They are also distinguished by a dark cape or coloration on their backs which stretches from their head to almost midway between the dorsal fin & to their tail flukes. Another prominent feature of their physique is a white-tipped beak. The Mating Tactics, Procedures, Cycles, & Practices Of The Pantropical Spotted Dolphin Dolphins mate via sexual reproduction. They usually reach sexual maturity at around 11 years for both genders. Between the ages of 11 & 35 they tend to be most fertile & willing to mate. They do not have a specific breeding month as breeding is a year round activity. A reason for this maybe due to the climate that they choose to live in. The females will usually only give birth every 3-5 years of their lives. These creatures are also not hermaphroditic however occasionally a dolphin maybe born intersex. They mate via internal fertilization which involves the male hooking his penis onto the female in order to ensure reproductive success underwater. This often results in them mating while their stomachs are touching. Their penises are also quite thick & stiff. The penises will not extend as well. It is not known exactly the average of how long this species of dolphins penises are. These penises are also not straight at all, they are in fact quite oddly shaped. The gestation period is approximately 11 months however it may be as long as 1 year. They usually only have 1 child & twins are statistically possible however that it is incredibly unlikely that twins occur. The mother will breastfeed her young for 2-3 years. However they can consume fish in as little as 5 months. They are still dependent on their mothers milk by that point though. They will often take care of the baby up until they are 5-10 years old. At this point the baby may leave to mate or just leave because they are ready to do so. The Distribution Of The Pantropical Spotted Dolphin Pantropical spotted dolphins are not limited to just the southern hemisphere. They are found throughout virtually all tropical & subtropical seas throughout the world. They prefer these areas due to climate & favourable food availability. They are most commonly found in open oceanic areas, they don’t often go extremely close towards the coast. They seem to prefer waters that are above 75° Fahrenheit (23.8889 Celsius). They prefer being in the upper 80 feet of water due to their enjoyment of sun. Their preferred habitat is an area with lots of coral or rocks because those often attract prey. They do not however limit themselves to just 1 area & will go wherever they like. They are found everywhere from east Africa to the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico. This creature does not have any known subspecies as of the time of publishing. They also don’t often cross breed with other similar species so having a hybrid would not happen naturally. Even though they are capable of crossbreeding in the wild, they just don’t. The Scientific Detailings Of The Pantropical Spotted Dolphin Dolphins are quite infamous for a few things, but the main thing is that they are able to blow water out of a hole in the top of their head. The reason that they do this is because they have to breathe through their nostrils. They cannot breathe underwater like many other marine animals. To be clear, the water that they blow out does not come from the dolphins lungs. It comes is just water that sits atop their head. They blow this water out to inhale, they are able to only inhale through their blowholes. Their skeletal system is rather similar to that of humans. They are vertebrates. They also have no dorsal fin bone. They have approximately 300 bones in their individual bodies. Their teeth are pyramid-eske & pointed. This makes them perfect for ripping off flesh from creatures bodies. They have approximately 240 teeth. They also do not seem to have multiple layers of teeth. We have already discussed the majority of dolphin neuroscience & the capability of their brains so there is no need to discuss it further. However, as a quick note they are also able to feel jealousy. Especially when fighting over the female dolphins. Their blood is red much like humans. It is believed that all dolphin species have evolved from the creature known as Pakicetus. This creature was a four-legged mammal that would walk on land. This creature lived approximately 50 million years ago. Obviously, many changes had to have been gone through in order for Pakicetus to become modern day dolphin species. The image above depicts the suspicted evolutionary chain of what led to the modern day dolphin. Their phylum is Chordata meaning that they developed these 5 characteristics all species under the phylum of chordata develop 5 similar characteristics either In adulthood or as juveniles. The characteristics that they develop include, a notochord, dorsal hollow nerve cord, endostyle or thyroid, pharyngeal Slits, & a post-anal tail. Their class is Mammalia. Mammalia is classified by the production of milk by the mother for their child to nurse, a neocortex which is a region of the brain, some capacity of fur or hair, & three middle ear bones. There are currently 6,400 species categorized under the class of Mammalia. Their order is Artiodactyla. which are even toed ungulates. Species categorized under Artiodactyla are ungulates, hoofed animals which bear weight equally on two of their five toes, these toes are the third & fourth toes. The other three toes are either present, absent, vestigal, or pointing posteriorly. Their infraorder is that of Cetacea. Key characteristics of this infraorder are their fully aquatic lifestyle, streamlined body shape, often large size & exclusively carnivorous diet. Another characteristic is their incredible social intelligence. There are roughly 90 species categorized under Cetacea. Their family is Delphinidae. This family consists of most oceanic dolphins. This family does not include river dolphins. Two characteristics of this order is that they are purely carnivorous & they are all usually incredibly social creatures. Some great examples of this are the fact that majority of these species live in pods or large groups. Their genus is Stenella. This genus consists of 5 current species (however this number may change in the future). This genus is incredibly special & abnormal as it holds the only known confirmed case of a hybrid species in oceanic mammals. This dolphin is known as the Stenella Clymene. This genus is informally known as bridled or spotted dolphins. This species binomial name is known as Stenella Attenuata. Directories / Credits https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/pantropical-spotted-dolphin https://www.vallarta-adventures.com/en/blog/how-smart-are-dolphins https://us.whales.org/whales-dolphins/how-intelligent-are-whales-and-dolphins/ https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/06/how-a-science-experiment-led-to-sexual-encounters-for-a-woman-and-a-dolphin/372606/ https://allthatsinteresting.com/margaret-howe-Lovatt https://animalia.bio/pantropical-spotted-dolphin Hunting - Wild Dolphin Project http://www.kevkurtz.com/his-blog/2016/11/2/how-do-dolphins-sleep https://www.whalefacts.org/dolphins-move/ https://study.com/learn/lesson/dolphins-mating-reproduction.html#section---LessonSummary https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/the-mechanics-of-dolphin-sex-all-the-dirty-details-you-need-to-know https://us.whales.org/whales-dolphins/how-do-dolphins-give-birth/ https://us.whales.org/whales-dolphins/how-do-whales-and-dolphins-breathe/ Strategic Partnerships Reel Guppy Outdoors Our Loyal Patrons Ms. Ochoa ReplyForward