Atlantic humpback dolphin

How it lives

Life span and breeding are poorly studied. Groups are small: about 65% of sightings involve 10 animals or fewer, and groups of up to 45 have been reported. Dolphins hunt both together and alone, and swim at about 1 to 7 km/h along the coast.

Where it goes

Atlantic humpback dolphins stay in shallow coastal water, usually less than about 20 to 30 m deep, in estuaries, mangroves and tide-swept bays. They occur only along the western African coast. Most sightings are of 10 animals or fewer, and groups of up to 45 have been reported.

We only draw a journey on the map when scientists have tracked it or clearly documented it. For this animal we have not found one yet.

Populations

Critically Endangered (IUCN, 2017), raised from Vulnerable. Fewer than about 3,000 animals remain, roughly half of them breeding adults, and groups number from tens to low hundreds. Photo-identification found at least 103 dolphins in the Saloum Delta in Senegal, 47 in the Rio Nunez area of Guinea and 10 along Angola's coast. The range runs from Dakhla Bay (Morocco) to Angola. The dolphin is confirmed in 13 to 14 countries, and in about six more its presence is unconfirmed. Sources count the range states slightly differently. The US listed it as Endangered in March 2024.