Panda Dolphin

A Commerson’s dolphin, or “panda dolphin,” follows the research vessel Laurence M. Gould as it travels down the Strait of Magellan on its way to Palmer Station across the Drake Passage. These dolphins are indigenous to the Tierra del Fuego area in South America and the Drake Passage between South America and the Antarctic Peninsula, as well as the southern Indian Ocean. They were named by Philbert Commerson who saw them in the Strait of Magellan in 1767. (Photo: Cynthia Spence, NSF; source: U.S. Antarctic Program photo library)