Kauaʻi record · KCA-MAM-spinner-dolphin
Spinner dolphin
Stenella longirostris
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About Spinner dolphin
Kauaʻi status: Confirmed resident Kauaʻi/Niʻihau stock. Ecological relationships include resting bays, offshore prey, vessel use, and responsible wildlife viewing.
Kauaʻi evidence
NOAA explicitly recognizes a resident Kauaʻi/Niʻihau stock and describes its coastal range.
Names and classification
- Scientific name
- Stenella longirostris
- Common names
- Spinner dolphin
- Hawaiian names
- Naiʻa
- Record type
- species
Kauaʻi occurrence and status
- Kauaʻi occurrence
- Confirmed resident Kauaʻi/Niʻihau stock
- Origin
- Indigenous
- Conservation status
- MMPA protected
- Evidence date
- 2026-09-13
- Evidence limits
- Uncertainty is retained at site, abundance, and trend levels.
Habitat and ecology
- Habitats
- sheltered bays · coastal waters · offshore nighttime feeding habitat
- Food and resource needs
- small fish · squid · shrimp
- Reproduction
- calm social and nursery habitat
- Shelter
- sheltered daytime bays and coastlines
Threats and conservation
- Threats
- swim-with and vessel disturbance · entanglement · marine debris · noise · habitat degradation
- Conservation actions
- 50-yard approach compliance · no swimming with spinner dolphins · protect resting habitat · report distress
- Monitoring
- photo-identification · acoustics · abundance surveys · human-use monitoring
- Data gaps
- Site-scale abundance and trend coverage remains uneven.
Process and seasonal context
- Seasonal description
- Kauaʻi status: Confirmed resident Kauaʻi/Niʻihau stock. Ecological relationships include resting bays, offshore prey, vessel use, and responsible wildlife viewing.