Photo by GFNMS files

Northern right whale dolphins are very streamlined and typically measure between 2-3m in length. They are black with white undersides and completely lack a dorsal fin. The genus name, Lissodelphis, is translated as 'smooth dolphin', referring to this absent fin. They do not appear as vocal as other dolphin species, but they are generally gregarious and school in several hundred to more than a thousand at a time. Individuals and small groups have even been known to travel with larger groups of other species.

Northern Right Whale Dolphin
(Lissodelphis borealis)

	Inhabits the temperate and sub-artic waters across the entire North Pacific from Japan to the Gulf of Alaska and Baja California.
	Cool, deep temperate waters of the northern Pacific with a surface temperature of 8-19ºC
	Fish and squid
The status of this species is representative of the populations within the waters of this Sanctuary only, not global populations.
	Right whale dolphins got their common name from whalers who often mistook them from a distance for right whales because of their lack of dorsal fin, a trait shared with the right whales that the whalers were hunting.
	- Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture - University of Michigan Museum of Zoology - Cetacea.org