Maternal instincts go above and beyond: off the coast of New Zealand a bottlenose dolphin mother has adopted a pilot whale pup.
Maternal instinct knows no species differences, as documented by the very tender images of a mother bottlenose dolphin swimming in the company of a pilot whale cub off the north-eastern coast of New Zeland.
In fact, it is not uncommon for dolphins to adopt mammals of other species, as marine biologists explain. But the surprising fact is that the two species have different sizes. While bottlenose dolphins weigh an average of 300 pounds as adults reaching a maximum of 4 meters in length, pilot whales can reach two tons in weight and grow up to 6 meters. In short, a significant difference which, however, did not represent an obstacle for the adoptive mother.
The photos depicting the two specimens were shared on social networks by the NGO Far Out Ocean Research Collective, which deals with research and conservation of marine species. The two were spotted together for 5 consecutive weeks.
An interesting observation of an adult oceanic bottlenose dolphin with a new-born long-finned pilot whale off…
Posted by Far Out Ocean Research Collective on Friday, April 9, 2021
Experts still do not know exactly what drives bottlenose dolphins to adopt pups of other marine species, but it is likely that the mother has lost her young and has therefore decided to take care of a pilot whale which, in turn, is was orphaned.
What to say? Mother Nature gives us yet another extraordinary life lesson!
Fonte: Far Out Ocean Research Collective
Read also:
- The mother dolphin who adopted the baby of another orphaned species
- Over 100 pilot whales have died stranded in New Zealand, but nobody cares
- 380 pilot whales died in the worst mass stranding in Australian history
