Risso’s dolphin is a deep-water species best known for the heavy scarring adults carry from social interactions and squid-hunting, so its small number of Maryland records near Patuxent, Patapsco Valley, and Blackwater likely reflects animals well outside their typical continental-shelf range rather than a resident coastal population. NatureServe carries no ranked status for the species in Maryland.
Records cluster in March, with a smaller rise in May, too thin a pattern to treat as a reliable seasonal signal for a species this rarely logged in state waters.
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