Behaviour
Both species are highly gregarious. They move in pods of several hundred individuals and sometimes congregate in groups of 3000. The groups may also contain Dusky Dolphins and Pilot Whales (in the south) and Pacific White-sided Dolphins (in the north). These dolphins are some of the fastest swimmers (in excess of 40 km/h). They can by turns become very boisterous and breach and tail-slap or become very quiet and almost undetectable at sea. At high speed they can leap up to 7 metres across the ocean's surface in a graceful bouncing motion.
The species will generally avoid boats, but bow-riding has been recorded on occasion.
No strandings have been recorded for the Northern species. There has been one recorded instance of 77 Southern Right Whale Dolphins stranding on Chatham Island.
Read more about this topic: Right Whale Dolphin
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