📸 PhotoPhoto: Avenue · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons Source
Hector's Dolphin
Cephalorhynchus hectori (Hector's Dolphin · セッパリイルカ)
💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed
- 💡 In Akaroa Harbour, up to 31 tour boat trips a day go out to watch these dolphins.
- 💡 Its maximum body length of about 1.6 m is nearly the same as the height of a 1.7 m adult (Comparison).
Reference standards: coach bus ~12 m, mid-size car ~4.9 m, compact car ~1 t, basketball hoop 3.05 m, credit card 8.56 cm.
Site-computed relative index from recorded values; not a formal scientific metric.
📖 1. Overview
Hector's dolphin is a dolphin found only in the coastal waters of New Zealand and is among the smallest cetaceans in the world.
🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology
It has a short, stocky body with no distinct beak and a relatively large tail fluke. Its dorsal fin is rounded, its pectoral fins are broad like paddles, and its gray, black, and white markings change with age.
🔍 3. Ecology & Behavior
Using echolocation to find prey in murky coastal waters, it feeds on a variety of small fish and squid. It usually lives in loose fission-fusion groups of 2–8 individuals.
🇰🇷 4. Connection to Korea
No direct record connecting this species to Korea has been found.
📚 Sources & References
- • IUCN Red List EN (2013) — https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/4162/44199757
- • IUCN Red List category EN — latest assessment at iucnredlist.org
- • mammaldiversity.org — 1006410
- • iucnredlist.org — 44199757
- • wikidata.org — Q300961
- • commons.wikimedia.org — File:Hector's Dolphins at Porpoise Bay 1999 a cropped.jpg
- • animaldiversity.org — Cephalorhynchus hectori
- • fisheries.noaa.gov — hectors-dolphin
- • Silhouette: PhyloPic — author not recorded · CC0 1.0 (Related taxon silhouette — Lagenorhynchus albirostris)
Recorded dimensions are widely cited representative estimates from public literature and may vary by study or specimen.