I have a bit of a weak spot for everything weird with cetaceans: hybrids, deformities, colour anomalies – you name it. Short-beaked common dolphins are a gold mine in the last department: I don’t think any other species displays quite so many different anomalies, and with such frequency. Some, like the melanistic form, are almost ‘normal’ and quite stereotypical in their presentation. Others, like the dolphins in row 4, are highly unique. In 2021 I made this poster documenting all know anomalies – initially just for fun but I ended up quite liking it! I hope you’ll have fun perusing the oddities of Delphinus delphis too.
New posters in a similar style, featuring colour anomalies of all other delphinids are in the making!
Most of the anomalies depicted here are based on several animals with similar looks. However, since the animals in row 4 are all so unique, here’s specific credits to their spotters: 4A was an individual stranded in the UK; 4B, D and E are all photographed by Lisa Steiner of Whale Watch Azores; 4C by Capt. Dave’s Dolphin Safari, 4F by Marilia Olio, and 4G was published in the article “Records of anomalously white harbour porpoises and atypical pigmented short-beaked common dolphin in the Georgian Black Sea waters” by Kopaliani et al.