Mother Dolphin Adopts Baby Whale And Cares For It Over Three Year Span

May 04, 2020 by apost team

Adoptions are usually uncommon among wild animals, but this was a rare documented case. Back in 2014, researches in French Polynesia discovered that there was a female bottlenose dolphin caring for an animal that didn't quite look the same as her. The animal in question was found to be a melon-headed whale.

This unlikely adoption was a rare occurrence that researchers French Polynesia got to record. The difference between the pair of aquatic mammals was noted when the Groupe d'Étude des Mammifères Marins team realized the bottlenose mother had a long narrow beak and the whale had a short and blunt snout.

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At the time that GEMM recorded the rare relationship, in 2006, the only other interspecies adoption on record was of a group of capuchins caring for a baby marmoset. 

Because the researchers saw the bottlenose nursing the baby whale, they said it signaled an invested bond between the mother and baby.

Scientists were amazed at this display of how the bottlenose dolphin is a very tolerant member of the ocean. The video shows just how accepted the melon-headed whale was into the bottlenose dolphin's family. 

What do you think of this unlikely pair? Be sure to pass this on to others so they can learn about the dolphin-whale adoption, too!