Short-beaked Common Dolphin (Delphinus delphis)

OTHER NAMES: Common Dolphin
Latin Etymology: Delphinus ("dolphin") delphis ("dolphin")

Adult Short-beaked Common Dolphib (Delphinus delphis) at The Lizard, Cornwall - September 2020

Featured Subspecies: Delphinus delphis delphis
Weight: 100-136kg  /  Length: 1.5-2.7m
UK STATUS NOT EVALUATED/ IUCN Red List: Least Concern 

Between them, the two species of Common Dolphin are the most abundant cetaceans in the world with an estimated 6 million individuals.  The two species relationship to each other is somewhat disputed, with current suggestions being they hold a more taxonomically complicated relationship to each other than originally thought. They are an incredibly social species, where I saw numerous groups of individuals together, they have been recorded coming together in hundreds and even thousands.

Related Species:
ORDER: Artiodactyla
Family: Delphinidae
Genus: Delphinus
SUBSPECIES: D. d. delphis, D. d. ponticus

 - Sighting Locations -

UNITED KINGDOM - A locally common species on the coast

 - Several pods seen on a boat trip off The Lizard, Cornwall, 

Further Notes: BirdForum Opus, IUCN Red List, RSPB, Wikipedia, Xeno-canto