Dolphins

Hawaiian name: Nai’a. Three species of dolphins are commonly seen in Hawaiʻi’s near shore waters: spinner, bottlenose and spotted. Though this information comes from wildhawaii.org, other sources show that rough-toothed dolphins also frequent Hawaii.

Spinner Dolphins: Spinner dolphins (Stenella longirostris) are the species most commonly enjoyed by visitors because they frequent regular near shore areas during the daytime to rest after nocturnal foraging in deeper water for food. This small, long-beaked dolphin can “spin” or revolve around its longitudinal axis as many as six times on one leap out of the water. They are found in resident pods around all of the main islands, resting in shallow bays in the day and hunting at night for small schooling fish.

Spotted Dolphins: Spotted dolphins (Stenella attenuataare) easily confused with spinners; they are closely related and look very similar. However, the end of the rostrum or “beak” is white-tipped and mature animals have a spotted color pattern on the body. Spotted dolphins are usually seen in the channels between the islands and do not rest near shore. Both spotted and spinner dolphins travel in schools from small numbers up to hundreds, and they are the two species caught in tuna nets in the eastern Pacific.

Bottlenose Dolphins: Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) are distinguishable from spotted and spinner dolphins by their much larger size, their uniformly gray coloration and their thicker, blunter rostrum. They are usually seen in smaller pods or groups of less than 10 individuals. Intelligent and high up on the oceanic food chain, dolphins are found to engage in playful activities including bow riding where they surf in front of a boat or even a whale’s bow wave.