Monday, March 12, 2007

Chinese White Dolphin

The Chinese White Dolphin also called Indo-Pacific Humpback Dolphin, is a species of the Humpback dolphin and is one of eighty cetacean species. The adult dolphin is generally white or grey in colour. The population along the Chinese coast is unique in that they display a pink-coloured skin. This colour of the skin is not an effect of colour pigmentation, but is actually from blood vessels used for thermoregulation to avoid overheating during exertion. The adult's body length is about 220 - 250 centimeters and the infant's body length is about 1 meter. The normal weight of an adult is around 150 to 230 kilograms.

The Indo-Pacific dolphins can be found throughout Southeast Asia, and they breed from South Africa to Australia. There are two types, with Sumatra, one of the Indonesian islands, as the dividing line between the Chinese and the Western subspecies, Sousa chinensis plumbea. The two subspecies vary in color and size of their dorsal fin. The subspecies found in Southeast Asia has pinkish white skin and a bigger dorsal fin but lacks the fatty hump of its South African and Australian counterparts.

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