A Commerson's dolphin in the Strait of Magellan

Description
Commerson's Dolphin (Cephalorhynchus commersonii) in the Strait of Magellan.
Date February / March 2008
Author Mirko Thiessen
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Commerson_Dolphin.jpg

Commerson's dolphin (Cephalorhynchus commersonii), also referred to by the common names skunk dolphin, piebald dolphin or panda dolphin, is a small oceanic dolphin of the genus Cephalorhynchus. Commerson's dolphin has two geographically-isolated but locally-common subspecies. The principal subspecies, C.c.commersonii, has sharply-delineated black-and-white patterning and is found around the tip of South America. The secondary subspecies, C.c.kerguelenensis, is larger than C.c.commersonii, has a less-sharply delineated dark and light grey patterning with a white ventral band, and is found around the Kerguelen Islands in the Indian Ocean. The dolphin is named for French naturalist Dr Philibert Commerson, who first described them in 1767 after sighting them in the Strait of Magellan. Order: Artiodactyla, Infraorder: Cetacea, Family: Delphinidae, Subfamily: Cephalorhynchinae, Genus: Cephalorhynchus, Species: Cephalorhynchus commersonii (Lacépède, 1804).