Risso’s Dolphins

Inhabiting deeper water around our coasts where they hunt for squid, Risso’s Dolphins are a rarer sight that Common and Bottlenose Dolphins, but they occasionally come in close to the coast.

Although not a common sight on our Sealife Safaris, occasionally we are treated to sightings of Risso’s Dolphins when they travel closer to the coast. They spend most of their time further offshore on the deep water continental shelves where they dive as deep as 500 metres for up to 30 minutes to hunt mainly squid, but also octopus and cuttlefish. Surprisingly, they don’t actually have many teeth, with 4-14 teeth on their lower jaw and none on their top jaw. They use the teeth they have to grab onto their prey and then swallow it whole. Risso’s Dolphins are not as sociable with boats as other dolphin species, but can be very active at the surface, breaching upright out of the water. They are sometimes seen travelling with other species, particularly Bottlenose Dolphins.

How to identify a Risso’s Dolphin:

• 2.5- 4 metres in length
• Tall, curved dorsal fin (Males’ fins are taller and straighter)
• Lack of ‘beak’ or snout with rounded melon (forehead)
• Pale grey skin which gets marked and scratched easily through social interactions and wrestling with their prey (squid) making their skin appear scratched and whiter