dolphin; small toothed whale
Refers to dolphins and similar small toothed whales such as porpoises and belugas. The katakana spelling イルカ is most common.
I watched a dolphin leap high into the air at the aquarium.
I saw a dolphin show at the aquarium.
Dolphins are very intelligent animals.
I joined a tour in Okinawa to swim with dolphins.
This aquarium keeps ten dolphins.
「匹」is the natural everyday counter for dolphins, though in formal or classificatory contexts they may occasionally be treated as large sea mammals and counted differently.
Used when treating dolphins as large animals (kaijū), though 匹 is more common in everyday speech.
pantropical spotted dolphin
striped dolphin
river dolphin
beluga whale; white whale
short-beaked common dolphin
Pacific white-sided dolphin
harbor porpoise; common porpoise
Dall's porpoise
bottlenose dolphin
spinner dolphin
Katakana spelling is standard; the word is usually written in kana.
Rare kanji form; a jukujikun reading. Not normally used in modern writing.
Hiragana spelling is also common.
The origin is uncertain; the kanji 海豚 (sea pig) is a jukujikun reading. The word is native Japanese.