Gramps
Work continues on the SECAC commission, and the end is in sight with just 2 more illustrations to go! I've just finished grandpa Grampus. Because after the "standard" Risso's dolphin (below, finished in 2022) SECAC also wanted an old male.
Risso's are very interesting in terms of colouration because they change so much throughout their life. They are born rather dark, and bear a colouration pattern akin to many other dolphins, with light grey undersides and a dark cape. Like pilot whales they have a white "anchor" marking on their chest, connected to a white patch on the belly. But as they age this colouration is snowed under by countless rake marks: scars brought on by the teeth of conspecifics. In many dolphin species these scratches quickly regain the same colour as the skin. In Risso's they stay white, likely acting as a sort of score bord for males to broadcast their fitness and fighting prowess.
Still, there's a lot of cool variation. Very old males can turn almost completely white (my illustration is quite conservative) with the underlying colouration also bleaching. Females usually have less scars but there's a broad range going from almost clean to being quite pale indeed with many rakes. Some animals develop white faces (with or without stark black markings surrounding the lips). And in some populations the animals just remain quite dark and seem to gather far less, or smaller rakes overall.
