Physical Description
Both species have slender bodies, small, pointed flippers and a small fluke. Conspicuously, neither species has a dorsal fin. The Northern Right Whale Dolphin is the only dolphin in the Pacific with this property. Similarly, the Southern is the only finless dolphin in the southern hemisphere. The two species can be readily distinguished (apart from the geographical separation in their ranges) by the extent of the whiteness on the body. Both have white bellies; however, the area of white coloration on the Southern species covers much more of the body - including the flanks, flippers, beak and forehead.
Northern males are about 220 cm long at sexual maturity. Females are 200 cm. Both sexes become mature at about 10 years. New-born Right Whale Dolphins are about half the length of their parents. The Southern species is typically larger (up to 250 cm) and heavier (up to 100 kg compared with the Northern's maximum of 80–90kg). The dolphins live for about 40 years.
Read more about this topic: Right Whale Dolphin
Famous quotes containing the words physical and/or description:
“Whenever reality reinforces a child’s fantasied dangers, the child will have more difficulty in overcoming them...So, while parents may not regard a spanking as a physical attack or an assault on a child’s body, the child may regard it as such, and experience it as a confirmation of his fears that grown-ups under certain circumstances can really hurt you.”
—Selma H. Fraiberg (20th century)
“The type of fig leaf which each culture employs to cover its social taboos offers a twofold description of its morality. It reveals that certain unacknowledged behavior exists and it suggests the form that such behavior takes.”
—Freda Adler (b. 1934)