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Larger members of
the
Dolphin family (6-9 m)
LONG-FINNED PILOT
WHALE
(Globicephala melas)

Characteristics:
- Up to 6.5 meters
- All black except for anchor-shaped white
pattern on stomach
- Round, high forhead (melon)
- Hooked dorsal fin, wide at base in males
- Long tail (2/3 of body length) with grey saddle patch
- Long boomerang-shaped pectoral fins
- Sometimes seen mixed with bottlenose dolphins
- Commonly strands on beaches in New Zealand
KILLER WHALE
(Orcinus orca)
Characteristics:
- Distinct black and white pattern, white patch
around eye
- Adult males have 2m tall, triangular dorsal fins
- Grey saddle patch behind dorsal fin
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Whales (12-18 m)
SOUTHERN RIGHT WHALE
(Eubalaena australis)

Characteristics:
- No dorsal fin or ridge
- Whitish callouses (callosities) on snout, chin,
blowhole
- Callosities infested with parasites and barnacles
- Slow swimmer
- Arched jaw, teeth absent, baleen
HUMPBACK WHALE
(Megaptera novaeangliae)
Characteristics:
- Small dorsal fin far on back with hump in front
- Knobs or bumps on head, jaws, flippers
- Pectoral fins long and white
- Folds or pleats under chin
- Underside of tail has white pattern
No
teeth, baleen plates
SPERM WHALE
(Physeter macrocephalus)
Characteristics:
- Blowhole on left side of head
- Large, squarish head, 1/3 of body
- Skin wrinkled
- Black, may have white lips
- Narrow underslung lower jaw
- Teeth only in lower jaw
- Usually seen resting at surface

© Whale Watch Kaikoura
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