#globicephala

[nature-and-biodiversity-blog]

Short-Finned Pilot Whales Globicephala macrorhynchus

[newoldstockphotos]

Klaksvik. The whale head wall. Skulls of globiceps.

[namu-the-orca]

A plethora of pilot whales

The alliterations continue, as well as the uploading of illustrations from last year’s two big project. This time, pilot whales. A big and impressive relative of the killer whale, which come in two species: the Long-finned (Globicephala melas) and Short-finned (Globicephala macrorhynchus). Ironically pectoral fin length isn’t always a good identifier, but shape is a good call: in Short-fins the pectoral fins have a continuous sickle shape, whereas in Long-fins the pectoral fins have a single bend, and then taper out very straight.

Within the species there is diversity too. Long-finned pilot whales are the colder water species of the two, and thus their range is divided into a northern and southern population. Northern animals are quite plain black aside from the white anchor marking on their chest and belly. However Southern animals bear very striking white eye- and saddle patches, a bit reminiscent of killer whales.

Short-finned pilot whales live in warmer waters and Japanese fishermen had long known of two different types. Recent research showed these to be two distinct global subspecies: the “Shiho” form, living mostly in the Eastern Pacific but also off Northern Japan, and the “Naisa” form, living in the rest of the Pacific Ocean, as well as the Indian and Atlantic. They can be told apart by their saddle patch: the Naisa form has a long saddle patch reaching almost the end of the peduncle, whereas the Shiho form has a very short one. I only illustrated Naisa animals, but all pilot whales currently living at Seaworld are of the Shiho form and you can see the difference in saddle patch length.

Within the Naisa form there’s yet more differences. In the Pacific and Indian Ocean, Naisa’s have very muted colouration, as shown by the bottom illustration. It can be hard to even spot their saddle patches at all! However Atlantic animals are very brightly coloured with beautiful creamy markings sweeping up from behind their eye and into their prominent saddle patches.

[namu-the-orca]

SEALIFE illustrations pt1: BLACKFISH Last summer, I was commissioned by SEALIFE dolphin watching to create some illustrations for their new educational building. They opted for full realism, which made me very happy - it’s been a while since I could go all out on the nitty gritty details of pretty cetaceans. Over the next few days I’ll upload them all so you can finally see these beautiful boys and girls too. 

★ Killer whale (Orcinus orca) Although little known from the actual Mediterranean, around the strait of Gibraltar and further afield sightings are more common. They have funky bulbous melons and stout dorsal fins around there, and the warm Portugal sun can make them look almost brownish at times.

★ Short-finned pilot whale (Globicephala macrorhynchus) Oof, this has to be one of my favourites. I find short-fins especially handsome to begin with, with their sleek bodies, big backswept dorsal fins and expressive eyes. Their subtle markings are beautiful and complex too - and I’m just so pleased with how this one turned out. This is a male, the females have more modest dorsal fins. 

★ Risso’s dolphin (Grampus griseus) Another personal favourite. Having painted Risso’s before, I was a bit daunted at the prospect of painting all those scars in detail this time. But it turns out drawing sucker scars and rake marks is pretty fun and I’m stoked with the result. Like pilot whales, Risso’s eat mostly squid. However, their skin does not repigment after scar tissue has formed, so the result of every skirmish with both colleagues and prey are permanently etched on their bodies.

[namu-the-orca]

I’ve been so busy with the illustrations.. I all but forgot to keep you guys updated on them! Six new cetaceans have joined the ranks of the MARS (Marine Animal Response Society) commission: five bulb-headed friends and one beauty ;) Although, they’re all beautiful if you ask me.

Most species will be by represented by a single image, but a few have separate illustrations for males and females, when the sexes differ significantly from each other. The northern bottlenose whales here are the first example of such a species. Today it’ll be the turn of another beaked whale pair, and a third illustration featuring another species.

[namu-the-orca]

“Dreams”

“I’ve been having these dreams… and I’m not sure what they mean.”

(Link takes you to Ecco music. It’s swanky. And the painting was made to it.)

[1erotemaquillas]

HD, alta definición 🏋🏻‍♀️ No hagáis caso de la calidad de la foto, te tiembla el pulso cuando lo das todo entrenando 🙃 #biceps #bicepsworkout #bicepsday #globicephala #medicalbiceps #doublebiceps #globicephalamelas #bicepworkout #feelmybicep #doblebiceps (en Basic-Fit) https://www.instagram.com/p/CDwim2EjB47/?igshid=yl0ioh05t2pw

[yzoard]

These eyes! #pilotwhale #pilotwhale #curious #curiosity #love #attraction #globicéphale #globicephala #globi #calderón #tenerife #islascanarias #lagomera #whale #whale-watching #bestplace (en Atlantic/Canary)