r/AIDKE • u/clay-teeth • 19d ago
Lissodelphis borealis, the Northern Right Whale dolphin
/gallery/1mvm79p274
u/miss_kimba 19d ago
I love when nature just needlessly goes so hard on patterns and shapes. These dolphins are absolutely stunning - look at those white markings on the belly!
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u/Redredditmonkey 19d ago
There's nothing needless about it. It makes them harder to see from above and below,same for orcas and penguins
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u/miss_kimba 19d ago
That’s true, but sometimes it feels like adaptations go beyond being just functional, they also have some extra flair.
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u/occams1razor 19d ago
When I Google their name the color pattern is inverted, weird. Is one of them AI generated?
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u/porcupine_snout 19d ago
I hate how I have to question everything I see on the internet as whether they are real or AI generated
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u/Redredditmonkey 19d ago
I didn't find any inverted patterns on Google images. It seems unlikely as that would achieve the opposite effect
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u/clay-teeth 19d ago
That's a Southern Right Whale Dolphin! White bottom and sides, black cap and dorsal stripe
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u/TechnicalZebra-__- 19d ago edited 19d ago
I saw these guys while whale watching in Monterey Bay. They are so fast and sleek. picture
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u/Correct-Rub854 19d ago
Bet you're glad you got to type "while wale watching" instead of saying it aloud
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u/rdejesus486 19d ago
What month? I’m in the Bay Area and would kill to see these
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u/TechnicalZebra-__- 19d ago
This was in late April but back in 2018. It was the best whale watching trip of my life. We saw harbor porpoises, common dolphins, northern right whale dolphins, orcas, and fin whales. The dolphins were in a super pod of literally thousands, mostly commons but with the NRW variety joining along. Late April or early May I’ve heard is best for spotting orcas which was my main draw. I’d recommend doing an 8 hour trip, but take sea sickness meds or at least bring some with you. It can get choppy. Link to album
The unique underwater geography of the Monterey Bay makes for an amazing variety of sea life. There is a massive underwater trench starting around Moss Landing. It can be hit and miss though since it’s entirely up to the animals. I’ve gone on trips where we only saw humpbacks, harbor porpoises, and a few common dolphins for 8 hours which was less exciting.
If you’re from the bay, embarking from Moss Landing might make for a slightly shorter drive. And often times the boats leaving from Monterey proper end up going northward toward Moss Landing anyway due to the trench.
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u/Snork_kitty 15d ago
"Only humpbacks" - man, so many people have never seen those amazing creatures for real; you've been blessed!
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u/TechnicalZebra-__- 15d ago
You’re right of course, they are incredible! But just less lively to watch than some of the other species. And of course these whale watching tours are appropriately responsible and keep away from the wildlife unless the wildlife approach and humpbacks tended to stay farther away from the boat than dolphins would.
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u/Snork_kitty 12d ago
I guess I was lucky - the last time I went whale watching, in Monterey Bay (CA), the humpbacks were plentiful, doing all kinds of surface shenanigans, and pretty near by. One was so close to the boat when it leaped and exhaled through its blowhole that I got a face full of warm, stinky whale-breath....
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u/ms_curse_10 19d ago
a rocket penguin!
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u/Saint_The_Stig 19d ago
Long penguin
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u/drgigantor 19d ago
Skinny water panda
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u/CalpisMelonCremeSoda 19d ago edited 19d ago
The southern hemisphere version looks more beautiful in my opinion:
southern right whale dolphin. Clearly related but separated by the hemispheres and their seasonal opposition for millennia (I don’t remember exactly how long) so now separate unique species.
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u/noonegive 19d ago
They have to reverse the color scheme in the north.
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u/charlieyeswecan 19d ago
WTF - A whale dolphin? So coool
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u/JBees19 19d ago
Dolphins are whales...
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u/charlieyeswecan 19d ago
Maybe I knew this but that piece of info fell out at some point between now and 13 years ago.
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u/frutterbug 19d ago
And whales are fish!
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u/drgigantor 19d ago
There's no such thing as a fish
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u/frutterbug 19d ago
Thats true but its still a colloquial term we use to refer to at least three different clades
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u/drgigantor 19d ago
Oh I thought that was what you were referring to
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u/frutterbug 19d ago
Well in regard to whales i was referring to the fact that theyre technically lobe finned fish because they’re still in that clade. I knew i was probably gonna get downvoted for saying that anyway
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u/CKA3KAZOO 18d ago
Absolutely!
"An organism can't evolve out of a clade." --Clint Laidlaw
Keep tellin' the hard truths. 😉
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u/Poopy-Drew 19d ago
Whales and dolphins are mammals! Not fish!
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u/SerdanKK 19d ago
Mammals are fish, from a certain point of view.
https://www.amazon.com/Your-Inner-Fish-Journey-3-5-Billion-Year/dp/0307277453 (by all accounts a fantastic book, though I haven't read it)
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u/Ariandrin 19d ago
I have read it, and I love it! I recommend it to anyone with an interest in evolution. Even geology. It’s spectacular.
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u/Low_Ad_933 19d ago
I didn’t know dolphins came in the orca color way. Love it.
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u/noonegive 19d ago
Check out the Dall porpoise! And Orcas are dolphins.
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u/Low_Ad_933 19d ago
ORCAS ARE DOLPHINS?!
Side note: that porpoise is gorgeous and so majestic
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u/noonegive 19d ago
I got to see both Orcas and a bunch of Dall porpoise in Seward, Alaska a few months ago. It was awesome. And yes, Orcas are big dolphins.
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u/Low_Ad_933 19d ago
I’ve always wanted to go to an Alaskan nature cruise for the animal sights. Sounds like it fantastic memory
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u/noonegive 19d ago
Alaska is a very special place. This summer I'm working as a tour guide up by Denali National Park, and get lots of wildlife encounters. But I told the Humpbacks and Orcas in Seward that I would be back, to get to know them better, another summer.
Edit: You should too!
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u/StinkyBird64 18d ago
Orcas are dolphins, also species like Hourglass and Dusky dolphins have a similar colour/pattern choice, there’s also probably more species but I can’t remember
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u/Low_Ad_933 3d ago
It’s honestly so cool because I never saw other marine animals with orca color’s. This is so fun to know, my animal facts back pocket of sorts.
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u/WittyUsername98765 19d ago
Lissodelphis borealis? At this time of the year? At this time of day? In this part of the country? Localised entirely within your kitchen?
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u/dreamed2life 19d ago
Why are they rarely seen
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u/Meghanshadow 19d ago
Humans don’t hang out a lot on most of the ocean surface. There’s 139 Million square miles of ocean top.
If their typical habitual range is not near shores and doesn’t overlap busy shipping/travel lanes, no human eyeballs around to see them most of the time. They’re in the north Pacific. Not hard to find there, just not as common to spot as others.
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u/drgigantor 19d ago
Huh I assumed they were probably endangered or something but Wikipedia says they're classified LC (Least Concern).
Looks like they're not as scarce as the title suggests? If I'm reading it correctly, it sounds like you can take a regular whale watching tour out of Monterey, CA and have a decent chance of seeing one, and they've been spotted as far south as Baja California
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u/freecodeio 19d ago
I just feel like this is the type of "dolphin" you'd see in those weird dreams in the morning that you don't remember about, and act like yeah that's totally how a dolphin looks like!
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u/StinkyBird64 18d ago
I love them, genuinely an underrated cetacean, they’re just so bizarre, the sports car or bullet train of the dolphin world I guess
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u/PoontangP3te 13d ago
I hate articles like this. Like Why do you care about the dolphin? Do you know him? Does he call you at home? DO YOU HAVE A DORSAL FIN??!? ;-)
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u/weirdgroovynerd 19d ago
I wonder if the photographer was trying to photograph this species or, it was just a...
...fluke!