A dolphin and whale hybrid was spotted for the first time near the coast of Hawaii. Scientists say that this is the first time that this pairing has been recorded.
Scientists from the Cascadia Research Collective (CRC) stumbled upon an unusual cetacean animal in the seas in August 2017, notes a report put out by the team. It was part of a two-week expedition funded by the US Navy which wanted to document the marine life surrounding Pacific Missile Range Facility when researchers photographed this strange animal.
A detailed report on the findings was released by the CRC where they confirmed that what they documented was, in fact, the first-ever hybrid creature between a rough-toothed dolphin and a melon-headed whale, named "Steno bredanensis".
Robin Baird, who headed expedition, said the discovery was their most unusual finding. "We had the photos and suspected it was a hybrid from morphological characteristics intermediate between species," Baird told the Garden Island, a local news outlet in Hawaii. "We were able to get a biopsy sample of the animal."
The biopsy sample was reportedly obtained by the scientists, using a specialised crossbow that had a special dart that returns only a skin sample and does not penetrate the animal or hurt it.
Studying the sample confirmed the animal's parentage, notes the report and adds that it is not just because this is the first known dolphin/whale hybrid. Steno bredanensis is found in deep waters beyond the continental shelf, and listed under the Red list or endangered species by IUCN.
There was a melon-headed whale also hanging around the animal, notes the report. They are also a relatively rare sight in waters near Hawaii. Scientists found one large pod, which they estimated to contain between 200 and 300 individual whales. Around the region, they have also came upon and tagged spotted dolphins, which is also uncommon in these waters.
However, the strangest sight of all, notes the report, is the singular melon-headed whale spotted swimming around alongside a pod of rough-toothed dolphins. This single female whale is likely the hybrid's whale mother, who now lives with its children, it said.
So how did a whale manage to mate and reproduce with a dolphin? Researchers explain that it didn't. Just like killer whales -- orcas and beluga whales, melon-headed whales are all a type of dolphin, they are from the same species—delphinidae—and dolphins by themselves are known to be a sub-family of whales in the first place.
While uncommon, the report mentions that other dolphin hybrids exist, called "Wholphin" they are the result of bottlenose dolphins mating with false killer whales, dolphin/whales that come off Beluga whales and Narwhals are called Narlugas.
Animal hybrids do not by default count as new species, notes a report by ScienceAlert. This includes established hybrid creatures like mule—offspring of donkey and horse. They are normally infertile and unable to establish their own kind. Even if they do manage to reproduce, it is with great difficulty, said the report.
It is unknown whether this new animal can produce any offspring of its own. One animal cannot constitute an entire species. As to why this mating happened in the first place, the report mentions that the mother whale might not have found a suitable mate.
