spinner dolphin
noun
: a long-beaked dolphin (Stenella longirostris) that is typically dark gray above and white below and that is noted for its habit of spinning in the air when breaching
Examples of spinner dolphin in a Sentence
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The dwarf spinner dolphin, which had glowing teeth, was the only species that didn’t exhibit fluorescence on the outside of its body.
—
Will Sullivan, Smithsonian Magazine, 10 Oct. 2023
Large pods of spinner dolphin pass the town regularly and, from a pathway along the shoreline, people can watch sea turtles ride currents among the mossy rocks just feet from the coast.
—Joshua Partlow, Washington Post, 19 Aug. 2023
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration rule under the Marine Mammal Protection Act prohibits swimming with or getting within 50 yards of a spinner dolphin that is within 2 nautical miles of the shore of the main Hawaiian Islands.
—From Usa Today Network and Wire Reports, USA TODAY, 30 Sep. 2021
Maddalena Fumagalli, a cetacean biologist at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand, investigates these issues in a study on spinner dolphins (Stenella longirostris) published today in Royal Society Open Science.
—Virginia Morell, Science | AAAS, 24 Apr. 2018
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Will Sullivan, Smithsonian Magazine, 10 Oct. 2023
Large pods of spinner dolphin pass the town regularly and, from a pathway along the shoreline, people can watch sea turtles ride currents among the mossy rocks just feet from the coast.
—Joshua Partlow, Washington Post, 19 Aug. 2023
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration rule under the Marine Mammal Protection Act prohibits swimming with or getting within 50 yards of a spinner dolphin that is within 2 nautical miles of the shore of the main Hawaiian Islands.
—From Usa Today Network and Wire Reports, USA TODAY, 30 Sep. 2021
Maddalena Fumagalli, a cetacean biologist at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand, investigates these issues in a study on spinner dolphins (Stenella longirostris) published today in Royal Society Open Science.
—Virginia Morell, Science | AAAS, 24 Apr. 2018
Cite this Entry
“Spinner dolphin.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/spinner%20dolphin. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.
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