Chilean Dolphin - Name

Name

In the early part of the twentieth century the Chilean Dolphin was commonly known as the Black Dolphin. This was later agreed to be a poor choice of name. Most of the few individual specimens studied by scientists were either washed-up individuals whose skin had darkened due to exposure to air or live specimens seen at sea but only at a distance (and so appeared darker than they were). As more specimens were studied it became clear that the back of the dolphin was in fact a mixture of grey colours and that its underside was white. The scientific community are now universally agreed in naming the dolphin Chilean on account of its distribution along the coast of the country.