Sperm Whales Adopt A Dolphin With Spine Deformity
ScienceNow is reporting that marine biologists working in the Azorean archipelago of the Northern Atlantic have discovered a group of sperm whales who appear to have taken in an adult bottlenose dolphin who has a rather serious spinal malformation. And it wasn't just a one-time encounter for the two species; the dolphin appears to be sticking around.
Other than the 'S' shape curvature to its body, the dolphin appears to be healthy. The researchers have virtually no way of knowing if the deformity has anything to do with the unprecedented inter-species co-mingling — though they suspect that it does.
Dolphins are a hierarchical species, so they may have shunned this particular member on account of its serious birth defect. In the words of one of the researchers, Alexander Wilson, "It might be that this individual didn't fit in, so to speak, with its original group." Or maybe it just couldn't keep up. For now, however, this will all have to remain speculative thinking.