Northern right whale dolphin

How it lives

Fast, social dolphins that travel in big groups. Groups usually number 100 to 200, and larger gatherings of 2,000 to 3,000 are not uncommon. They usually avoid boats, although they sometimes surf the waves boats make, and they are sometimes seen with Pacific white-sided dolphins. They use clicks and burst-pulses and do not whistle. Females are pregnant for about a year and have a single calf, usually in summer. They live for 42 years or longer.

Where it goes

Northern right whale dolphins live in cold-temperate and subarctic water of the North Pacific, roughly between 30 and 50 degrees North, from northern Baja California to the Gulf of Alaska, Kamchatka and Japan. They prefer deep offshore water at or beyond the continental shelf. The sources I opened do not describe a set migration route.

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

About 68,000 live in the North Pacific, with roughly 26,000 in the California, Oregon and Washington stock, according to NOAA. High-seas drift-net fishing killed an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 a year between 1985 and 1990, and estimates of how much this cut the population differ between sources. NOAA lists entanglement in fishing gear, hunting in Japanese fisheries and underwater noise as current threats. The IUCN lists the species as Least Concern.