7.6.05 New Species of Dolphin, The Snubfin named afer the short fin it's back, the dorsal fin. I shouldn't hold back thinking people won't 'get it' but the dorsal fins on many dolphins are used for thermoregulation. These are warm blooded mammals. So, it is necessary for them to have a thermoregulation system that keeps them warm while swimming at relatively high speeds in the water. The dorsal fin is usually an intricate part of that thermoregulation system. Very complicated actually. The reason this is so fascinating is to realize this a a cold water dolphin and it's thermoregulation is more perhaps like that of baleen whales. Many of the baleens have tiny dorsal fins compared to their body mass. Some dorsal fins are even absent in whales. So this is really quite interesting from a 'genetic diversity' perspective.