Difference Between Dolphin and Porpoise

Dolphin vs Porpoise

Most of the time people are regarding porpoise as dolphin since it is really hard to tell the difference between the two, especially if you are not well educated with their dissimilarities. Let’s try to discuss these points so the next time you see these creatures, you would be able to point which is dolphin and which is the porpoise.

Though both are toothed whales, they come from different family of mammals. Porpoise come from the Phocoenidae species while dolphins come from Delphinidae species. Given that they came from two dissimilar families, porpoise are quite smaller in size as compared to dolphins but are chubbier. Their dorsal fins also differ in such a way that porpoises have triangle fin that looks like the shark’s fin. The dolphin’s dorsal fin is shaped like a wave ‘“ it is taller but curved to the back.

Also, dolphin’s nose is a pointed beak while porpoise has a shorter but rounded nose. Their teeth are also different. The teeth of the dolphin are sharper cone-shaped while the teeth of the porpoise are flat and looked like a spatula. They also differ in their behaviors. You would see dolphins mostly in marine shows. They are sociable toothed whales. They love interacting with humans. The porpoises on the other hand are quite shy. They do not really interact with other creatures since they just appear in the water surface when they catch their breath.

Porpoise do not also use under the sea whistle communications. Dolphins on the other hand, use their blow holes to communicate underwater.
Just remember that physically, porpoises are smaller but chubbier than dolphins. Dolphins are also sociable as compared to porpoise. So the next time you ride a boat and see a dolphin, most likely it’s really a dolphin since porpoise do not want to interact with humans or other creatures.

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