31 July 2013

Striped dolphins "porpoising"



"Porpoising" is a rather weird term. It is used to define speedy swim characterized by repeated leaps. It comes from a past when dolphins were sometimes called "porpoises".

Today, however, the word "porpoise" is used to describe a small cetacean of the family Phocoenidae, and "porpoising" should probably be dismissed.

(Photos by S. Bonizzoni, Gulf of Corinth, Greece)

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