### animal | vertebrate | mammal | whale | dolphin | porpoise:

Harbor porpoise
* Most harbor porpoises have flippers.
* Some harbor porpoises have distribution.
* are found throughout the temperate coastal waters of the Northern Hemisphere
  - primarily fish feeders, but in some areas they prey on squid and crustaceans
  - small, stocky whales
* have a discontinuous distribution
  - small, robust body with a short, blunt beak
  - dark brown or gray backs and a lighter sides, with a white tummy
* inhabit northern temperate and subarctic coastal and offshore waters
* live in groups averaging one to three individuals and are very skittish.
  - sexual maturity
* use echo-location to find and follow herring and other schooling fish.
* utilize tidally-induced internal waves.

Harbour porpoise
* Most harbour porpoises prefer cool water
* Most harbour porpoises reach maturity
* are smaller than their dolphin cousins and feed on small fish near the sea floor
  - the smallest of dolphins occurring in the North Sea
* can be very difficult to observe in the wild.
  - temperate and subarctic waters
  - sexual maturity

Vaquita
* are shy, rather secretive animals.
* have a dark coloring around the eyes and mouth.
+ Vaquita, Look: Toothed whales
  * Vaquita have a dark coloring around the eyes and mouth. The upper side of the body is medium to dark gray. The underside is off-white to light gray. It has a rather large fin on its back for its size.

### animal | vertebrate | mammal | whale | dolphin:

River dolphin
* are also in trouble in some parts of the world
  - four living species of dolphin, which reside in freshwater rivers and estuaries
  - nearly blind because they've evolved in the muddy water of rivers
  - symbols of the freshness of water
  - vulnerable and endangered worldwide
* flouish in zones of quiet water typically found near river confluences.
* live in fresh or slightly salty water.
* prefer to swim alone or in groups of two and three.
* share similar and characteristic morphologies.

Solitary dolphin
* Most solitary dolphins interact with humans.
* are notoriously elusive animals and difficult to track.
* tend to spend anywhere from a few months to a few years in one place.

### animal | vertebrate | mammal | whale | dolphin:

Spinner dolphin
* Most spinner dolphins are found in the blue water habitat of tropical oceans
  - eat fish
  - live in ocean water
* Most spinner dolphins live in warm ocean water
* Some spinner dolphins feed at nights.
* are known for their acrobatics and aerial behaviors
  - mammals
  - nocturnal animals that are only found in the wild
  - polygynandrous
  - quite friendly and they love to travel in large groups known as pods
  - six to seven feet long and have a three part color pattern on their bodies
  - small cetaceans with a slim build
  - the acrobats of the ocean
* can offer hours of fun.
* feed in groups at night by using various forms of communication
  - on small fish and squid, often several hundred feet down
* prowl the Midway lagoon.
* rest in shallow waters, usually inlets.

Spotted dolphin
* Spotted Dolphins learn social skills from siblings, peers and elders.
* are vigorous swimmers, frequently hurling themselves high into the air.
* lead very complex social lives.

Striped dolphin
* Striped Dolphins are an active species, regularly bowriding and leaping from the water.
* are mammals
  - the most common cetaceans in the Mediterranean Sea
  - very rare in the North Sea
* have black stripes on their sides.

White whale
* Most white whales live in tropical water
* are very social.
* can radically change the shape of their bulbous melon.

Female sperm whale
* grow to feet.
* have eyes.

Female whale
* are usually a little smaller
  - very receptive to the courtship from the males during the mating season
* bear live young, which they nurse from mammary glands.
* determine the structure of pods.