📸 PhotoPhoto: Alexander Vasenin · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons Source
Spinner Dolphin
Stenella longirostris (Spinner Dolphin · ハシナガイルカ)
💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed
- 💡 In the eastern Pacific, yellowfin tuna follow schools of these dolphins, so tuna vessels have long used dolphin schools to locate tuna.
- 💡 A male's body length of 2.4 m is about 1.4 times the height of a 1.7 m adult human (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
The Spinner Dolphin is a slender dolphin of tropical and subtropical seas, famous for leaping into the air and spinning around its body axis.
🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology
It has a long, slender beak, and its dorsal fin varies from slightly falcate to erect and triangular. A 3-toned pattern of dark gray back, light gray sides, and white belly is common, and its upper and lower jaws hold 45–62 pairs of fine, sharp teeth.
🔍 3. Ecology & Behavior
At night it preys on small fishes and squid rising from deeper water, resting during the day. Because it spins up to seven times in a single leap, it earned the English name "spinner," and its schools range from dozens to thousands of individuals.
🇰🇷 4. Connection to Korea
It is listed as "Ginburidolgorae" (Korean name) on the National List of Species of Korea and may occur throughout Korean waters.
📚 Sources & References
- • IUCN Red List LC (2018) — https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/20733/156927622
- • IUCN Red List category LC — latest assessment at iucnredlist.org
- • mammaldiversity.org — 1006440
- • iucnredlist.org — 156927622
- • 국가생물종목록(국립생물자원관) ktsn 120000053396 — https://species.nibr.go.kr/home/mainHome.do?cont_link=009&subMenu=009002&contCd=009002&ktsn=120000053396
- • wikidata.org — Q649513
- • commons.wikimedia.org — File:A spinner dolphin in the Red Sea.jpg
- • species.nibr.go.kr — mainHome.do
- • animaldiversity.org — Stenella longirostris
- • Silhouette: PhyloPic — author not recorded · CC0 1.0 (Congeneric silhouette — Stenella coeruleoalbus)
Recorded dimensions are widely cited representative estimates from public literature and may vary by study or specimen.