BERIGAN Posted April 15, 2005 Report Share Posted April 15, 2005 Whale-Dolphin Hybrid Has Baby Wholphin By JEANNETTE J. LEE, Associated Press Writer Fri Apr 15, 7:50 AM ET The only whale-dolphin mix in captivity has given birth to a playful female calf, officials at Sea Life Park Hawaii said Thursday. The calf was born on Dec. 23 to Kekaimalu, a mix of a false killer whale and an Atlantic bottlenose dolphin. Park officials said they waited to announce the birth until now because of recent changes in ownership and operations at the park. The young as-yet unnamed wholphin is one-fourth false killer whale and three-fourths Atlantic bottlenose dolphin. Her slick skin is an even blend of a dolphin's light gray and the black coloring of a false killer whale. The calf still depends fully on her mother's milk, but sometimes snatches frozen capelin from the hands of trainers, then toys with the sardine-like fish. She is jumbo-sized compared to purebred dolphins, and is already the size of a one-year-old bottlenose. "Mother and calf are doing very well," said Dr. Renato Lenzi, general manager of Sea Life Park by Dolphin Discovery. "We are monitoring them very closely to ensure the best care for them." Although false killer whales and Atlantic bottlenose dolphins are different species, they are classified within the same family by scientists. "They are not that far apart in terms of taxonomy," said Louis Herman, a leading expert in the study of marine mammals. There have been reports of wholphins in the wild, he said. Kekaimalu, whose name means "from the peaceful ocean," was born 19 years ago after a surprise coupling between a 14-foot, 2,000-pound false killer whale and a 6-foot, 400-pound dolphin. The animals were the leads in the park's popular tourist water show, featured in the Adam Sandler movie "50 First Dates." Kekaimalu has given birth to two other calves. One lived for nine years and the other, born when Kekaimalu was very young, died a few days after birth. Park researchers suspect the wholphin's father is a 15-foot long Atlantic bottlenose dolphin named Mikioi. "He seems to be totally oblivious to this happening," Lenzi said. False killer whales do not closely resemble killer whales. They grow to 20 feet, weigh up to two tons and have a tapering, rounded snout that overhangs their toothed jaw. Atlantic bottlenose dolphins reach a maximum size of 12 feet and can weigh up to 700 pounds. Sea Life Park officials said they hope to decide on a name for the baby wholphin soon and move her to a large display tank in a few months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RDK Posted April 15, 2005 Report Share Posted April 15, 2005 Haven't we learned our lesson from killer bees? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maren Posted April 15, 2005 Report Share Posted April 15, 2005 Cool !!! But the AP needs better proofreading/copy editing/fact checking: Park researchers suspect the wholphin's father is a 15-foot long Atlantic bottlenose dolphin named Mikioi. ... Atlantic bottlenose dolphins reach a maximum size of 12 feet and can weigh up to 700 pounds. ??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RDK Posted April 15, 2005 Report Share Posted April 15, 2005 Heh. Guess male dolphins like to exaggerate their size as well... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy Berger Posted April 15, 2005 Report Share Posted April 15, 2005 Both killer whales and false killer whales aren't really whales anyway -- they're both dolphins. Guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazzmoose Posted April 16, 2005 Report Share Posted April 16, 2005 Leave it to Guy to take the fun out of everything... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy Berger Posted April 16, 2005 Report Share Posted April 16, 2005 Leave it to Guy to take the fun out of everything... Hey man, I was raised in the wild by false killer whales and we're very sensitive about this kind of thing. Guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DTMX Posted April 16, 2005 Report Share Posted April 16, 2005 Who you calling "false"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy Berger Posted April 17, 2005 Report Share Posted April 17, 2005 (edited) Who you calling "false"? This is for the people who complained about no-one taking pictures at the Organissimo meetup in Manhattan. Guy Edited April 17, 2005 by Guy Berger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BruceH Posted April 18, 2005 Report Share Posted April 18, 2005 And all these years I thought they were different species. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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