I am always getting corrected one way or the other. Which ones hang out around port o'connor intercoastal way? Which ones do I see in the lower laguna madre at south padre?

Porpoises are the shorter, chubbier step-sister. They also don't have the "beak" nose and their dorsal fin more resembles a shark than a dolphin's wave-shaped fin.

Probably dolphins. There is a family of dolphins which can be seen on a pretty regular basis from the TAMUG campus. Which is on the Seawolf island, across from the Port of Galveston.

bottlenose dolphins. the gulf generally doesn't have any porpoises. as mentioned above, the easiest way is to look at the rostrum (nose).

+1 for Walter

quote:

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The term dolphin applies to those small whales that have a distinct snout or beak and numerous conical teeth that are roughly circular in cross-section. The term porpoise applies to those small, blunt-nosed whales that have flat, spade-shaped teeth. Based on these definitions, all the small, beaked whales in Texas waters with numerous conical teeth are dolphins. No porpoises are known to occur in Texas waters.

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http://www.nsrl.ttu.edu/tmot1/ordcetac.htm

Ace Ventura: [to Lt. Einhorn] Whew... now I feel better. 'Course, that might not do any good you see nobody's missing a porpoise. It's a dolphin that's been taken. The common harbor porpoise has an abrupt snout, pointed teeth and a triangular thoracic fin. While the bottlenose dolphin, or Tursiops truncates, has an elongated beak, round cone shaped teeth and a serrated dorsal appendage. But I'm sure you already knew that. That's what turns me on about 'cha, your attention to detail.

fruck ru darfin!

quote:

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http://www.nsrl.ttu.edu/tmot1/ordcetac.htm

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Did you really just reference a tceh website for academic reasons?

As long as it wasn't on porpoise, I guess.

[This message has been edited by Agz_2003 (edited 7/6/2010 8:08a).]