Hawaii #16 - Baby wolphin
I'd like to introduce you to a cute 9 month old baby girl.
But first I should tell you about her mom's story. Her mom is Kekaimalu, whose name means "from the peaceful ocean." Kekaimalu is a 19 year old wolphin, the result of a surprise coupling between a 14-foot, 2,000-pound false killer whale and a 6- foot, 400-pound dolphin. The whales and dolphins were living together in a shared pool at Sea Life Park, and one evening (unseen by their humans), one whale and one dolphin went to Funkytown.
The humans didn’t realize what had happened until the baby was born – and they knew right away that this was no ordinary baby. Kekaimalu has developed into a unique animal, combining characteristics of both of her parents. Her size, color, and shape are right in-between her dolphin mother and whale father; she weighs about 600 pounds and is close to 10 feet long. Even her teeth show her mixed heritage: bottlenose dolphins have 88, false killer whales have 44, and Kekaimalu has 66. John Oakley, a Sea Life Park trainer, has worked with Kekaimalu since her since she was a calf, "She's one of the brightest animals I've ever worked with."
Around Christmas last year, Kekaimalu gave birth to the baby girl in this picture (the baby hasn’t been named yet). Her father is one of the dolphins in the park pool (all the whales are now gone); the park scientists can’t be sure which dolphin is the father until they complete the genetic tests. The baby is very playful but twice as large as her playmate (a “pure” baby dolphin, who, along with her mother, share the mom-and-baby pool at Sea Life Park in Oahu Hawaii.)
Mother and daughter are the only two wolphins in captivity, although there have been unproven reports of them being seen in the wild. There may be other wild dolphin or cetacean hybrids out there; for years, scientists have been listening to a unique whalesong in the Pacific that some believe to be sung by a hybrid of a blue whale and another whale species (full story).
She and her mother are Hybrids similar to ligers, tigons, and mules. Contrary to popular belief, some different species in the same genus can mate and produce fertile offspring (mules are infertile, wolphins seem to be fertile). As to the question of why animals would mate outside their own species – this may be a desirable behavior in the Darwinian sense in that it increases the genetic diversity of the populations, so it may have positive selection pressure.
To learn more about wolphins: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolphin
To learn more about hybrids - www.greenapple.com/~jorp/amzanim/crossesa.htm
Comments and faves
psychicgypsy, *petita*, elkit, { Xana }, and 347 other people added this photo to their favorites.
_mpd_ [deleted] (81 months ago | reply)
Beautiful shot. I could tell something was a little different about the thumbnail, and yup, something was a little different :)
psychicgypsy (81 months ago | reply)
That is a beautiful shot. The clear water, the amazing grey of the dolphin.
Zzzzt!Zzzzt! (81 months ago | reply)
that is a gorgeous image, pinhole and great info. I'm always fascinated by these water mammals, with brains much bigger than our own. Efforts to communicate with them (by Dr. Lily and others) are pretty astonishing. what an amazing planet that we take ruthless, arrogant advantage of. Despite all our tech, it is stunning how little we actually know about these and other animals on our tiny planet.
Bob Duck (81 months ago | reply)
Thnak you for a great photo and a fascinating explanation.
happyluvsme (81 months ago | reply)
Beautiful picture. Amazing creatures. Loved the commentary. So much better than the story from the newspaper.
NickFun (81 months ago | reply)
My mother always insisted I marry someone from within my own species.
linton (81 months ago | reply)
wow
alexandrabehr24 (81 months ago | reply)
what a beautiful shot!
dlemieux (78 months ago | reply)
weird. i was just wondering whether or not mammals could mate with different species the other day.
BeckyBrinkley (77 months ago | reply)
They're a special duo all right. LOVELY shot. You're so lucky to have got the chance to see them.
Orcasforever (77 months ago | reply)
This is a gorgeous shot! Beautiful girl :) You should add this to the new dolphins/whales group: www.flickr.com/groups/cetacea/
missmoseyposey (75 months ago | reply)
no wonder everyone is commenting this is really a great phot
lookinforbooks (73 months ago | reply)
very pretty
Nik™ (72 months ago | reply)
too adorable!
Orcasforever (71 months ago | reply)
Just as an added note, the little girl was named Kawili Kai :)
ArtByChrysti (71 months ago | reply)
Please add this to www.flickr.com/groups/bigfave
clionluvin (70 months ago | reply)
To add another note, Kawili Kai means "blend of the ocean." She was named during a contest Sea Life Park held for some elementary school children. I believe she was born either Christmas Eve day or the day before.
Cut2Cure (68 months ago | reply)
Gorgeous texture on this photograph. I love the reflection in a star shape! This photo IS a star!
AdamBaronPhoto (67 months ago | reply)
Awesome shot! Love the Lucis!
Jason_Combs (67 months ago | reply)
Wow! That's amazing! I also really like the color and reflection on it's head.
Aiko Heiwa (65 months ago | reply)
Wow, that is so cool! Thanks for the information! I would have never known!
Diamond espumoso (64 months ago | reply)
This one is a beuti, i love it! and it´s perfect,, awesome!
lvnfreedom (62 months ago | reply)
Wonderful shot, and thank you for providing the explanation and information! Very interesting!
Laura ^^ (62 months ago | reply)
Amazing shot!!!! just Wow!! I really love it!
StellaGr (61 months ago | reply)
A great story, a great photo.
♥MillkieWay Star♥ [deleted] (60 months ago | reply)
♥It almost makes me Cry♥ So beautiful
icedminttea (60 months ago | reply)
ohh.. I got to agree with cut2cure... and
thank you so much for sharing this lovely sweet story with us... I got to pass this page to my relative who is a vet.. she would absolutely love to hear about this new... mmm therefore, this little baby must be a little young lady by now..
cheers :)
KeNNy KaPooR (60 months ago | reply)
Hi, I'm an admin for a group called Where there is Love, there is Life :), and we'd love to have your photo added to the group.
It would be great if u would like to join us:
Thanks in advance..............Good Day :)
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
Jorge Alberto Mendoza (60 months ago | reply)
cute
jimgoldstein (60 months ago | reply)
Too cool! I can't say I've ever heard of this before.
Steebs166 (59 months ago | reply)
That is pretty amazing.
Patrícia EKN (57 months ago | reply)
Love the shiny thingy!
RukatheBlackfish (56 months ago | reply)
Wonderful picture of the baby. I might add, she isn't the only wolphin, there are a few in Japan ;)
southpaw20 (56 months ago | reply)
Awesome...love the starburst on the head. Thanks for the fave of my shot!
Julian Rodriguez (56 months ago | reply)
Woow the best photo of its kind, pretty impressive, stunning picture.
Jen Mooney (54 months ago | reply)
Woah!
noalani_95 (52 months ago | reply)
Thats so cute!!!
Boju (52 months ago | reply)
Hi, I'm an admin for a group called cryptozoology, and we'd love to have your photo added to the group.
Green appel (52 months ago | reply)
very nice !!
عرب توب ,
دردشة صوتية ,
منتديات ,
منتديات عرب توب
eywmm0 (52 months ago | reply)
you can actually see the intelligence in her eyes. how precious.
karamarston1 (51 months ago | reply)
this is an amazing shot and a wonderful story too
I'm an admin for a group called National Geographic Animal Lovers, and we'd love to have your photo added to the group!
♠lunatic♣ [deleted] (51 months ago | reply)
sweet dolphin.excellent shot
photographs by katie lou x (51 months ago | reply)
this is a beautiful shot
maru41 (51 months ago | reply)
Ps
Picturing The World (51 months ago | reply)
looks like a bottlenose dolphin in captivation. They are great creatures
whiteplusorange (51 months ago | reply)
very beautiful colours.
very rich.
and nice timing,love the picture((;
Köttbullekvist [deleted] (50 months ago | reply)
Your divine shot was called to the group "Gods chosen picture"!
Alejandro Flores Salazar (49 months ago | reply)
wuoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
mandikern (49 months ago | reply)
amazing
ibcali (49 months ago | reply)
Hi, I'm an admin for a group called Flickr Envy ( Invited photos only ), and we'd love to have this added to the group!
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