Atlantic White Sided Dolphin   

Scientific Name: Lagenorhynchus acutus

Weight: 350-500 pounds
Status: non endangered

All whales, dolphins and porpoises are members of the scientific order Cetacea. When classifying these animals, Cetacea is broken down into two sub-orders: Odontocetes and Mysticetes. Odontocetes are whales that have teeth, such as these dolphins. Mysticetes are whales that have baleen, such as humpback whales. 

Dolphins use their teeth to grab individual fish from a school of fish and then swallow their prey whole, but how do they locate those fish in the first place? They use echolocation, or
sonar. The dolphin emits a series of high frequency sound pulses from an organ in the front part of its head called the melon. The sound waves travel through the water ahead of the
dolphin and bounces off any object in its path. The sounds waves are received back to the dolphin’s lower jaw and are transmitted to the inner ear. The information that comes back to the dolphin indicates the distance, size, shape and movement of the object in its path.

White sided dolphins are highly social animals. They travel in groups called pods. The size of the pod can vary from a half dozen individuals to possibly thousands of individuals. Also, two types of pods have been observed. One type is called a nursery pod consisting of related females and their young. The other is known as a bachelor pod consisting of adult males.