page_title: Right whale dolphin
section_title: Behaviour
hierarchical_section_title: Right whale dolphin / Behaviour
caption_attribution_description: Northern right whale dolphin. The lack of a dorsal fin makes identification of this species much easier. Washington. 2005.
context_page_description: Right whale dolphins are cetaceans belonging to the genus Lissodelphis. It contains the northern right whale dolphin and the southern right whale dolphin. These cetaceans are predominantly black, white beneath, and some of the few without a dorsal fin or ridge. They are smaller members of the delphinid family, oceanic dolphins, and very slender. Despite scientists being long acquainted with the species, little is known about them in terms of life history and behaviour.
context_section_description: Both species are highly gregarious. They move in pods of several hundred individuals and sometimes congregate in groups of 3000. The groups may also contain dusky dolphins and pilot whales (in the south) and Pacific white-sided dolphins (in the north). These dolphins are some of the fastest swimmers (in excess of 40 km/h). They can by turns become very boisterous and breach and tail-slap or become very quiet and almost undetectable at sea. At high speed they can leap up to 7 metres across the ocean's surface in a graceful bouncing motion.
  The species will generally avoid boats, but bow-riding has been recorded on occasion.
  A single and rare stranding has been recorded for the northern species.  On 9 June 2018, a 5.5-foot female was found deceased on Manzanita Beach on the coast of Oregon. There has been one recorded instance of 77 southern right whale dolphins stranding on Chatham Island.
caption: Right whale dolphins lack dorsal fins. Shown is the northern species, so the only white parts are the bellies, hidden from this angle.
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