The Eclectic Electra
Alright then. One last illustration, one last far-fetched alliteration. Couldn’t bear to leave the lonely Melon-headed whale unpublished just because I hadn’t thought to put it in with any of the others. Not just for completionist reasons, but also because they’re very nice dolphins and I like how this illustration turned out. I got my fair share of Melon-headed whales (or “peps”, as the client called them) in my painting “As above, so is below” which holds no less than 57 unique individuals. And unique they are, with their long, pointy pectoral fins, quite severely dipping cape, and funny blunt heads with huge bandit masks. I think they have a friendly look to them.
Their scientific name is interesting too. Genus Peponocephala was created in 1966 by Nishiwaki and Norris, however the scientists made a small mistake. They thought “Pepo” meant melon, but in fact it translates to pumpkin. Wrong fruit. So, the Pumpkin-headed whale then. Nonetheless the name has been accepted and the common name kept intact. What the beautiful specific name electra refers to (they are also known as the Electra dolphin) is less certain. Most likely one of two Electras in Greek mythology; favour falls to Electra the daughter of Agamemnon who mourns her slain father. Perhaps the dolphin’s dark colours and “cape” on the back reminded of someone in mourning.