The common dolphin has been a punctual presence in our trips. Come learn a little bit more about this species with us!
The common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) are animals highly social and normally travel in groups that can reach thousands of individuals, usually those groups are found divided by sex and age. It is a species that has a global distribution, but it is resident in the Azores. Despite the fact that they are observed all year round, generally they are more frequent during the spring, suffering a decrease between July and September, due to the start of the presence of Atlantic spotted dolphin, that increases their food competition.
Their diet assents in small fish schools, and in the Azores it usually consists in horse mackerel, mackerel and sardine. The animals work in team in a way to gather the school in a “ball” that they imprison near the surface for a better catch.
They have a longevity of 25 – 30 years, reaching their mating age by the age of 3 – 4 years, with the gestation lasting 10 – 11 months, allowing them to have a newborn every 1 to 3 years.
They are born with a length of 80 – 90 cm, achieving a maximum length of 2,5 m when adults, being able to reach 200 kg. Although their mean size and weight is 2,2 m and 150 kg.
They are extremely curious and intelligent and avail the waves created by our boats to get closer and perform the known “bow riding”. They have a greyish color with an hourglass in the flank in yellow and a white belly.
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