Unless you’re a huge oceanic nerd like I am, chances are you’ve never seen or possibly even heard of the beautiful Hourglass Dolphin.
Here are 5 AMAZING facts about these little known but extremely distinctive hourglass dolphins!
- The scientific name for the hourglass dolphin is, “Lagenorhynchus cruciger”. Lagenorhyncus means ‘jar-beaked’ referring to their small, jar shaped rostrums and ‘cruciger’ means cross carrier which references their unique cross like color scheme on their flank.
- Besides the largest member of the dolphin family, the Killer Whale, the Hourglass Dolphin is the southern-most dolphin. They’re only found in Antarctic and sub-Antarctic waters.
- They are commonly found in waters ranging from 32 – 55 degrees F.
- The only potential natural predators of the hourglass dolphin is a pack of killer whales.
- As of 2010, only six complete specimens had ever been studied by science, making them one of the least understood animals on Earth. Despite this fact, they are not considered endangered.