28.08.2024 – Wholphin

Ever heard of a “wholphin”? Often on tours, guests are keen to see “whales,” and obviously we get it; big whales are amazing, but this statement can sometimes frustrate guides for one of two reasons. Firstly, part of the beauty of our tours is that you don’t know what you will see. The diversity in Madeiran waters changes hourly, and as much as we’d love if everyone who came onboard saw large whales, then it just wouldn’t be as special. Secondly, as many know scientifically, we do not differentiate between the two. Dolphins are family within the toothed whales. Simply put, all dolphins are whales, but not all whales are dolphins. Therefore, the phrase “we want to see whales” makes no sense if you saw dolphins; you saw a form of whales (cetaceans, as we would say), just not the big ones. These expectations lead to funny moments, such as this morning when watching Blainville’s Beaked Whales (Mesoplodon densirostris) from a distance, a guest asked me, “What sort of dolphins are those?” excitedly I informed them they were actually whales! Expecting a positive reaction, I was surprised to hear a slightly disappointed response, as it turns out this guest’s main goal onboard was in fact to see dolphins.

I do contest here that the way we see things as guides may be seen as somewhat pedantic to the layman. Of course we know what you mean by “whale,” but to be honest, the debate of their differences is still one of my favourite conversations to have onboard. Despite all stemming from one dog-sized animal named Pakicetus (Pakicetus inachus), who decided to go back to sea millions of years ago, the cetaceans are now all distinctly different…or so one might think. Closely related cetaceans like to interbreed to produce hybrids, including the Fin and Blue Whale hybrids, Narwal and Beluga hybrids, and of course the Clymene Dolphin mentioned in previous blogs. Yet there is another. A strange mixture between False Orcas (Pseudorca crassidens) and bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus), which, due to its appearance (part killer whale part dolphin), is often dubbed “the wholphin.” . I can’t help but think, after all,  we’ve discussed here that this halfway characteristic might make it the perfect animal to be seen on a whale-watching tour.

*Don’t worry, dear reader, we were fortunate enough to see three curious Bottlenose Dolphins later in the trip, which elicited a rapturous response from the aforementioned guest!

by Peter Worth

Sightings of the Day

Ribeira Brava

Stenella

09:30 Blainville’s beaked whales, Bottlenose dolphins, Loggerhead Sea turtle

14:00 Striped dolphins, Loggerhead Sea turtle, Blainville’s beaked whales

17:00 Blainville’s beaked whales, Atlantic spotted dolphins