A Whale? A Dolphin?​—No, It’s a Wholphin!

By Awake! correspondent in Hawaii

THE birth of a wild animal in captivity is always an exciting event. But May 15, 1985, proved to be an unusually special day at Hawaii’s Sea Life Park.

The expectant mother was an Atlantic bottlenose dolphin whose Hawaiian name Punahele (pronounced Poo-​nah-​hayʹlay) means “Beloved Friend.” Punahele had been extra large in the latter stages of her pregnancy. So the park staff already had the feeling that something unusual was going on. Their suspicions were confirmed when Punahele’s baby was born. She was named Kekaimalu (pronounced Kay-​kai-​mahʹloo). Kekaimalu was not only darker than a dolphin but her snout was uncharacteristically short.

Then Kekaimalu opened her mouth.

An Atlantic bottlenose dolphin is supposed to have 88 teeth. But Kekaimalu’s grin revealed only 66 teeth​—and they were conspicuously large. What had happened?

The newborn’s mother had been performing daily with several other dolphins in the Whaler’s Cove show at Sea Life Park. One of her costars had been an 18-​year-​old, 2,000-​pound [900 kg] false killer whale.a When each day was over, the aquatic performers were allowed to swim about freely in a single tank.

Well, the unexpected result was Kekaimalu​—a creature that was half dolphin and half whale. Park staff delightedly dubbed this rare hybrid a “wholphin.” Her 66 teeth split the difference between her dolphin mother’s 88 teeth and her whale father’s 44 teeth. Although her dark coloration and greater size clearly demonstrate her whale heritage, park officials describe her as “a unique blend of both parents.” Her tapering rostrum, or “beak,” is similar to, but somewhat shorter than, a dolphin’s.

The only other known wholphin had been born at an oceanarium in Japan in 1981. The hybrid creature died several months later. Would Kekaimalu’s prospects be any better?

The 35-​pound [16 kg] baby wholphin appeared healthy and began nursing normally. Reporting the comments of a park official, the Honolulu Star Bulletin and Advertiser said shortly after Kekaimalu’s birth: “The youngster’s chances of living to maturity aren’t as good as those of her single-​species cousins . . . Hybrids usually are either still-​born or develop ailments and die at an early age. Fortunately, . . . Punahele is an experienced and loving mother who has raised two other dolphin offspring to maturity [at Sea Life Park].” The official said: “She’s very adaptable, she’s a real good mom.” Punahele’s reputation as a mother proved to be well-​founded.

Kekaimalu has now lived for over seven years. At 650 pounds [300 kg], she dwarfs her dolphin mother. And after a few years as a performer at Whaler’s Cove, the then five-​year-​old wholphin, presumed sterile by many, made history in June 1990. She became a mother herself. “The common wisdom is that hybrids are sterile,” said Marlee Breese, curator of mammals at the Makapuu facility. “But Kekaimalu is far from it.” Unfortunately, her firstborn​—one-​quarter whale and three-​quarters dolphin—​lived only a week.

Kekaimalu apparently did not know how to nurse her baby. “I don’t think being a hybrid has anything to do with it,” says Breese. She feels that the most likely reason Kekaimalu did not nurse her calf was that she was young and didn’t know how to go about it. “These animals usually reach sexual maturity at 8 to 10 years,” says Breese. At the birth of her first calf, Kekaimalu was only five.

On November 8, 1991, Kekaimalu gave birth to a second calf. This time, however, the staff was prepared. After a 24-​hour watch to see if the mother wholphin would take the initiative to nurse the calf herself, they intervened. Kekaimalu was lifted out of the water in a sling, and milk was removed from her via a woman’s breast pump. ‘It was especially important to get the mother’s first milk,’ explains Breese, ‘since it transmits antibodies to the calf.’ For weeks the staff routinely milked the mother once a day, obtaining about a quart [1 L] of milk from her.

The wholphin’s milk was then mixed with a man-​made formula. It had been developed in Florida, U.S.A., during an effort to rescue a beached dolphin. From six in the morning to midnight, the baby wholphin was fed every two and a half hours through a stomach tube. She gained about a pound [half a kg] a day in weight. In between feedings, grandma, mama, and baby frolicked together in a large holding tank.

As of this writing, the survival prospects seem good for the world’s only known granddaughter of a whale and a dolphin. Perhaps she will one day follow family tradition and perform on the Whaler’s Cove show. In the meantime, the world has been given one more glimpse into the astonishing potential for variety that God has built into his creation.

[Footnotes]

[Picture on page 15]

A wholphin with her dolphin companions

[Credit Line]

Monte Costa, Sea Life Park Hawaii