Out of the 90+ species of cetaceans, only one is endemic to New Zealand, the Hector’s dolphin (Cephalorhynchus hectori). Within the Delphinidae family, this species’ genus forms a clade with the right whale dolphins (Lissodelphis spp.) and former members of Lagenorhynchus. There are two recognized subspecies: the common Hector’s dolphin that inhabits the South Island (C.h.hectori) and the Maui dolphin in the North Island (C.h.maui). The Hector’s dolphin is primarily a coastal species, inhabiting depths less than 100 meters, and moves slightly more outshore during the austral autumn and winter. This species is one of the smallest cetaceans in existence, with adults ranging between 1.2-1.5 meters and 35-60 kilograms, and achieving a maximum of 1.6 meters and 65 kilograms. The Hector’s dolphin is listed as ‘Endangered’ as populations have been declining since the 1990s. Historically, there were 50,000 Hector’s dolphins, with 2,000 from the Maui subspecies. Today, the common subspecies rests at 15,000 individuals after a recent rebounding of the east coast populations. Meanwhile, the Maui dolphin is listed as ”Critically Endangered” with a population of 63. Due to living in crowded murky waters, Hector’s dolphin’s echolocation can only detect prey at half the distance of pelagic dolphin species. This species is an opportunistic predator that feeds on a variety of small fish such as yellow-eyed mullet, and red cod in addition to squid and octopus. Predators include killer whales (Orcinus orca), and large sharks.
Today we take a look at the Hector’s dolphin from Stewart Sales and Services, both a species and a brand we do not see a lot of on this blog. This figure was part of a pack of 6 New Zealand animals, and now we’ll see if this figure serves well as one of the very few viable figures for the Hector’s dolphin.
The figure measures 8cm along the back and 7cm long if the body were posed straight. This would scale the figure to about the 1:20-1:23 scale for this species. However, since this species is quite smaller than most dolphins, this figure isn’t much bigger than the dolphins from the Safari TOOB set that typically fit in the 1:25-1:35 range. The sculpt, is quite good, though not very detailed. The silhouette of the animal is properly captured, especially the sloped forehead from which the dolphin’s genus name is derived. However, not much else is sculpted beyond the eyes and mouth. This can be forgiven to a degree since this is quite a small figure. Fun fact: the leading edges of the Hector’s dolphin’s flippers are serrated. Maybe we’ll get to see that on a larger figure, possibly from PNSO.
The paintjob is somewhat compromised in my figure since it was delivered with some scratches for some reason ( which is not an isolated issue from what I was able to see, so buyer beware). Nonetheless, I can observe the light gray upper and lateral sides of the figure and a white underside. Black covers the fluke, face, and flippers. These features are generally accurate to the animal, however, there should be white projections extending around the lower sides of the body, akin to those seen on an orca.
Underneath, the entire underside is white, however, there should also be another black band between the flippers. No sign of genital or mammary slits is evident on the ventral side of this figure.
The Stewart Sales and Services Hector’s dolphin is a pretty neat figure. The biggest draw is that this is a species that rarely has any quality figures. The sculpt and paintjob are adequate enough to make this species clearly identifiable, but the detail falls short of providing the kind of realism observed in small Kaiyodo figures or the Safari Ltd. Dolphin TOOB. None of this, however, changes that this figure currently stands as anyone’s best option for adding Hector’s dolphin to their collection.