#788: Vaquita

The Vaquita is found in the Gulf of California, where less than 100 individuals remain.This diminutive dolphin is one of the smallest Cetacean species, growing about 140 cm long. She is generally solitary in nature and favours lagoons and shallow water. Here she preys on small fish, crustaceans and squid, which she locates using echolocation. Her greatest threat comes from illegal trawl-netting, especially around the critically endangered totoaba. This large fish is famed (and now farmed) for its swim bladder, a delicacy in Chinese cuisine. Sadly, demand for this has pushed not only the totoaba to the brink of extinction, but Vaquita also become entangled in the nets and drown.

Creature Feature #571: Blue Whale

Due to various commitments, I have been temporarily stalled on the Ps - I have, however, been drawing quite a lot of animals, and so it is time to take a step back and look at a beast I really should have presented for "B".

The Blue Whale is the heaviest animal ever to have lived, weighing around 177 tonnes and measuring up to 30 m in length. Even her tongue weights 2.7 tonnes. Her diet consists almost exclusively of krill, occasionally copepods; she devours up to 40 million a day. These are sifted through her baleen. She is not social,generally living alone or with a single individual and only gathering in loose groups when food is plentiful. Blue Whales were almost hunted to extinction during the peak of whaling, although their preferred targets were generally the smaller Right or Sperm whales. She is now classified as Endangered.

Creature Feature #540: Orca

The Orca is a largest dolphin, and one of the most intelligent creatures in the ocean. She is highly sociable, forming complex social groups, comprised of females and their female descendents. These matrilines combine with other matrilines to form pods. Orca hunt co-operatively, hounding and drowning larger cetaceans or herding and ambushing. They are known to hunt seals along the coast by beaching themselves temporarily before wriggling back out to sea. A captive whale at Marine World would reguigitate fish on the surface of the water, then ambush and eat the birds that descended to devour it. Orca also learn from observation, and teach techniques to their calves. She can live up to 90 years, breeding from 15 years of age, up to 40 and giving birth every 5 years or so. They are one of the few mammals (humans being another) to undergo menopause and live for years after cessation of breeding.