New dolphin-whale hybrid sea creature is the spawn of an unholy union

While surveying whales and dolphins off the Hawaiian Islands, scientists spotted a creature they’ve never seen before: a peculiar hybrid between a dolphin and a small whale. 

In 2017, before future naval officers trained on submarines in the waters around Kauai — a place called the Pacific Missile Range Facility — the U.S. Navy hired marine researchers from the Cascadia Research Collective to study the native animals in these seas. After encountering a large pod of melon-headed whales, the researchers tagged two of them, to see where they might go. 

It was then that the researchers noticed something curious about one of the creatures. It wasn’t quite a melon-headed whale. Nor was it exactly a rough-toothed dolphin, which are common to the area.  Read more…

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