Fun Spinner Dolphin Facts For Kids

Do you love to watch dolphins or a Hawaiian spinner? Do you like to see them come out of the water and spin around? The spinner dolphin (Stenella longirostris) is popularly known for showing its acrobatic and aerial skills in the water. It is a type of dolphin whose population is found in the tropical waters across different regions. Gray's spinner dolphins, which is a subspecies of spinner dolphins, are known for their aerobatic skills and aerial behaviors. The spinner dolphins love to jump, flip, and also twist above the surface of the water whereas other dolphins may only occasionally spin or jump. The spinners spin multiple times in one jump. Spinner dolphins like to blow bubbles, and they are known to be chatty animals and are intelligent like us. This subspecies comes under the vulnerable category and conservation efforts are being undertaken at international levels.

Scientists believe that Gray's spinner dolphins spin for several reasons, which include communication, removing parasites, and simply to enjoy and have fun. Spinners are not aggressive though they are wild animals. Spinner dolphin breed is large in size and very powerful marine predators and like to interact with them. You should not touch dolphins as they can harm you. Spinners primarily breathe through their blowholes. Spinner dolphins breed is known to be smart. After reading this article on spinner dolphins, do check out our other articles on dusky dolphin and common dolphin.

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What type of animal is a spinner dolphin?

Spinner dolphin (Stenella longirostris) is a small dolphin type found in off-shore tropical waters around the water. Spinner dolphins are said to be very lovable and love spinning in the water. Spinners are skilled acrobats and are regular dolphins that regularly leap out of the water and also perform different aerial moves and entertain people around them.

What class of animal does a spinner dolphin belong to?

Spinner dolphins belong to the mammal class called cetaceans. They are scientifically known as Stenella longirostris and their considerable population is often found in off-shore tropical waters and coastal waters.

How many spinner dolphins are there in the world?

It is said that the spinner dolphin is one of the most common subspecies of dolphin. But there is no accurate number on the total population on this subspecies.

Where does a spinner dolphin live?

Spinner dolphins live in warm ocean waters around the world and are said to be found in off-shore water oceans. Dolphins from this species are found in regions that include different parts of the world.

What is a spinner dolphin's habitat?

The spinner dolphin species is widely found in coastal waters along the eastern tropical pacific.

Who do spinner dolphins live with?

The spinner dolphin population comprises of other species of dolphins and with large bony fishes. Their primary habitat is around the coastal waters of central America.

How long does a spinner dolphin live?

The lifespan of a spinner dolphin is about 20 years while some of the spinner dolphins live for 25 years. The lifespan of spinner dolphins varies because of their surroundings and other environmental factors.

How do they reproduce?

The reproduction cycle of spinner dolphins goes on around the year. After the mating process is over, the gestation period lasts for around 11 months, after which the female gives birth to the offspring.

What is their conservation status?

The conservation status of spinner dolphins is vulnerable. Their population comes under the protected category and efforts for their conservation are being undertaken at international levels.

What do spinner dolphins look like?

The Eastern spinner dolphins look like other dolphins but are long snouted and are dark gray in color . They have a long, skinny beak, a slender body, small curved flippers with pointed tips, and a tall triangular dorsal fin.

How cute are they?

Dwarf spinner dolphins are said to be cute as they keep spinning in the water and leap in the air and look cute from far away. They also have a cute smile on their smile that attracts people’s attention towards them.

How do they communicate?

Spinner dolphins communicate with one another through echolocation. They have special hearing skills that allow them to utilize sounds to determine the size, movement, and position of the objects.

How big is a spinner dolphin?

The spinner dolphins are 5.2-6.8 ft long and are medium-sized dolphins.

How fast can a spinner dolphin swim?

The spinner dolphins swim at around 3-7 mph. Spinner dolphins swim at speeds of over 20 mph when they are trying to run away from predators or are on the hunt themselves.

How much does a spinner dolphin weigh?

The spinner dolphins weigh about 50-174 lb.

What are their male and female names of the species?

Male dolphins are called bulls, and female dolphins are called calves.

What would you call a baby spinner dolphin?

Baby spinner dolphins are called calves.

How are spinner and bottlenose dolphins different?

The main difference between a spinner and a bottlenose dolphin is that their length of the rostrum is different. The rostrum or snout of the spinner is typically very long. Bottlenose dolphins are spotted from far away as they are much larger in size as compared to spinner dolphins.

What do they eat?

Spinners eat tuna, other small fish, shrimp, and squid that are found below the surface of the water. They usually feed at night.

Do they bite?

Yes, some of the spinner dolphins are known to seriously bite and hurt humans by butting them. The biting has resulted in injuries that include lacerations and broken bones.

Would they make a good pet?

Yes, they would make a good pet as they are all about love, fun, and like to play, and it is also legal to have dolphins as pets. They make good pets as they are playful in nature, but they can also harm you if not given proper care.

Did you know...

The spinner dolphins received their name for their ability to spin multiple times in the water. The species name is longirostris is Latin for long beak, referring to their slender shaped beak. They are popularly known for their impressive aerial displays, breaching, and spinning regularly.

It is a wide-ranging, open ocean species and is lovable in nature. They are responsible for accidentally catching and also killing spinner and spotted dolphins. They spin multiple times to shake off remoras and parasites to indicate location and direction. Spinner dolphins are also known for doing full aerial somersaults, head slaps, tail slaps, and spy hops. When spinner dolphins rest, half of their brain rests, and the other half tells them to breathe and monitor the surroundings.

Can spinner dolphins do tricks?

Yes, they can do acrobatics, and aerial acts and also high jumping spins that they take out of the water. They can jump 10 ft high and spin multiple times.

Why are they called spinner dolphins?

They are called spinner dolphins because of their ability to swim multiple times in one jump. They received their name because they are often seen leaping and spinning out of water.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly animal facts for everyone to discover! Learn more about some other mammals including fin whale, or bowhead whale.

You can even occupy yourself at home by drawing one on our spinner dolphin coloring pages.