Home >> Science & Nature >> Nature

What Is the Difference Between a Bottlenose Dolphin & a Porpoise?

It might be surprising for you to find out that porpoises and bottlenose dolphins aren't the same animal. In fact, you would also be surprised at the variety of differences that there are between them. Although they are both mammals and give birth to live young which they then nurse, they have different physical characteristics, display variances in behavior and are scientifically classified in different families.

The Bottlenose Dolphin and Porpoises
- The bottlenose is only one of many species of dolphins but there are two different types of porpoises. Both dolphins and porpoises are classified in the Cetacea order, however scientists put them in different families. The bottlenose dolphin is part of the Delphinidae family and gets its name from its short, stubby beak. The Dall's porpoise and harbor porpoise are both part of the Phocoenidae family. All three have varying pod behaviors and feeding habits.
Color and Appearance
- The Dall's porpoise has a distinctive black and white pattern.
  
  The Dall's porpoise is the most distinctive of the three, with black and white markings similar to an orca. It's head is small and rounded compared to the rest of its body. The bottlenose dolphin and harbor porpoise have similar colors and markings and are more difficult to tell apart. The dolphin will have a beak and a bulbous head while a porpoise will have a more stubby snout.
Size and Weight
- The dolphin is much bigger than the porpoise. An adult dolphin weighs about 1430 lbs. and is 8 to 12 feet long. Males are much bigger than females. This makes it a much bigger animal than either porpoise. The Dall's porpoise rarely reaches 7 feet and 350 lbs. and the harbor porpoise is even smaller at 6 feet and 200 lbs.
Habitat and Migration
- Porpoises prefer the cold northern waters close to Alaska.
  
  Bottlenose dolphins are found in tropical or temperate coastal waters all over the world. Dolphins have two ecotypes, coastal and offshore, and their migratory patterns are connected to these ecotypes. Porpoises tend to favor cooler waters and do not tend to migrate. The harbor porpoise, as its name suggests, stays in shallow waters near the shores of the North Pacific, the North Atlantic and the Black Sea. The Dall's porpoise inhabits only the North Pacific and can be found in waters off Alaska or Japan.

Nature