Florida can’t decide if its official saltwater mammal is a dolphin or a porpoise

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Florida can’t decide if its official saltwater mammal is a dolphin or a porpoise

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States have a surprising number of official symbols. While most people expect them to have an official motto, a seal, and a flag, there may also be a national drink, a muffin, dirt, a fossil, and a poem, to name a few.

The animal kingdom seems to be well represented among state symbols, with Florida having everything from an official bird to an official reptile to an official saltwater fish and an official freshwater fish. The Sunshine State just updated its official bird and songbird to the American flamingo and the Florida scrub jay, respectively.

However, Florida’s state saltwater mammal appears to be a bit of an enigma. The same law that designates the manatee as a marine mammal of the State of Florida also states that “the porpoise, also known as the dolphin, is hereby designated as a saltwater mammal of the State of Florida.”

There’s just one problem. Although people sometimes use them synonymously, dolphins and porpoises are two different animals. Dolphins and porpoises are both cetaceans, but porpoises are smaller and more “stocky” than their more well-known mammalian counterparts. They also have different dorsal fins as well as differently shaped teeth, and dolphins are significantly more common. In Florida, porpoises are rare.

However, when people talk about dolphins or porpoises in Florida, they tend to think of the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncated). In fact, the Florida Department of State assumes that the state’s saltwater mammal is the bottlenose dolphin. Also known as the common bottlenose dolphin, this famous species is very intelligent and exists in the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic oceans.

More broadly, Floridians must have a penchant for round aquatic species. Manatees (Trichechus manatus) are the state’s marine mammals, bloated creatures also known as sea cows. And if the state ever decides to choose an official invasive species, we all know which famous reptile should win that award.