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| A pair within the larger group. |
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| Characteristic dorsal shape - a dead giveaway. A whale watch boat watches blue whales in the distance. |
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| Spy hop to check us out! |
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| The black bulbous melon, lack of beak (or discernible one) and broad-based falcate dorsal fin help us to identify the species |
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| The world's best support team who happen to be my parents (and as it turns out - my good luck charms too!) |
An amazing new addition to my life list - the short-finned pilot whale (Globicephala macrorhnychus). A pod of about 30 cruised towards and stuck around our boat giving us some great photo and sighting opportunities.....that is until a whale watch boat cottoned on and came racing right through causing them to hurriedly dive out of sight!!!
It also happened to be the day my parents came out on their annual 'sit-on-boat-with-Asha-and-watch-her-do-what-makes-her-happy' trip so the whole thing immediately became more memorable with exclamations of excitement and joy from all quarters.
Pilot whales are actually large dolphins and come in two species. This one, found in tropical and subtropical waters and the long finned pilot whale that is distributed antitropically. Click on this link to learn more about this species
http://www.acsonline.org/factpack/PilotWhale.htm and see how it differs from its long-finned cousin.
Short fin pilot whale! Looks like you have Cetaceans lining up to get their shots taken, lucky you..maybe they know you like them so much! Great pics, Asha.
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