Whales and Dolphins

We had the honour to be visited by Pilot Whales, Orcas (also known as "Killer Whales") and Pygmy Killer Whales. The photo on the left is taken at Peleliu area and the two Pilot whales were part of a larger group.
Photo by Mandy Etpison

This Pygmy Killer Whale was caught "sunbathing" around Blue Corner area. We've tried to get a closer look but every time we got close they dove down.
Photo by Mandy Etpison

Spinner Dolphins have been spotted several times around Ulong Channel and Blue Corner area. They get around in large pods of more than 50 individuals and "socialize" close to the reef. Some of our customers managed to get some good close-ups.
Photo by Valentin Ciontoiu

We've spotted this pod of Orcas roughly two miles outside the Blue Corner reef. The pod had a bull and six-seven caws. Though they looked relaxed but they were moving quite fast.
Photo by Veronica (see the inlay below)

Veronica, one of our customers from Singapore, was kind enough to donate one of her Orcas photo
Thank you and looking forward to having you back!

New Staff

Jennifer Basco has been working with other companies of NECO Group for almost two years and recently had just been transferred at NECO Marine. You can find her at our retail store. She is a nursing graduate from Philippines but gave it all up for the beauty and wonders of Palau.

Critter Corner: The Spinner Dolphin

The Spinner Dolphin is sometimes referred to as the Long-snouted Dolphin, particularly in older texts, to distinguish it from the similar Clymene Dolphin which is often called the Short-snouted Spinner Dolphin. The species was discovered by John Gray in 1828.

This is the most acrobatic dolphin. They jump high out of the water and spin around like a spinning top. They live in the open ocean and eat mostly fish. The male Spinner Dolphin is known to spin when leaping up from the water because they "put on a show" for female dolphins, and that's why they are called the "Spinner" Dolphin.

The Spinner Dolphin is usually dark gray, with darker patches in the tail stock, back and throat. Usually it has creamy-white patch on the belly though this varies considerably. Their beaks are distinctively long and thin, and with a dark tip. The fins, also, are lengthy for dolphins of this size. The dorsal fin is erect and even leans forward in older males found in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. However this description has to be described as a little loose - Spinner Dolphins are the most variable in form of all cetaceans.

Adults have varied in size from 129 cm to 235 cm and weight from 23 kg to 78 kg. The gestation period is about 10 months. Individuals reach maturity at four to seven years (females) and seven to ten years (males). Their longevity is unknown.

Spinner Dolphins congregate in groups that vary from just a few dolphins to great numbers up in the thousands. They are consistently acrobatic and keen bow-riders. The reason for the animal's spinning is said to be unknown by some people, but other people say that male Spinner Dolphins are trying to attract the females. Another suggestion is that the great cauldron of bubbles created on exiting and re-entering the water may act as a target for echolocation by other individuals in the school. Spinning may also be simply playing. Individuals have been spotted completing at least 14 spinning jumps in quick succession.

Dolphin sounds appear to be in the form of click-whistles and pulse sounds which are a mix of echolocation and communication. Echolocation sounds enable dolphins to track objects in dim or dark water and to, in effect, see much further than their eyes will allow. Their complex array of whistle sounds are the way that dolphins talk to one another. The spinners can even identify themselves with sounds they make while trailing bubbles from their blowholes -- sounds called signature whistles.

The spinner dolphin's diet consists of small fish and squid. Spinners have more teeth than other species of dolphins, with between 45 to 65 sharp, pointed teeth in each side of both the upper and lower jaws. They feed at night.
Whitebelly and eastern spinner dolphins in the eastern tropical Pacific have suffered enormous population losses as a result of entanglement in the nets of tuna fishermen. For a reason not yet known, they swim in herds above schools of yellowfin tuna. Instead of looking for tuna, the fishermen look for dolphins; when they find them, they encircle the herd with large nets called "purse seine" nets, capturing the dolphins along with the tuna. It is believed that the stock has declined by as much as 80% since the 1960s, when purse seining operations began. Spinner dolphins do well in captivity, and have been displayed in Hawai'i and elsewhere in the U.S., Indonesia, the Philippines, and Hong Kong.

Source: www.wikipedia.com, www.acsonline.org
Photo by Valentin ciontoiu

Did you know...

Life began in the seas 3.1 billion to 3.4 billion years ago. Land dwellers appeared 400 million years ago, relatively recently in geologic time.

Source: http://marinebio.org/MarineBio/Facts/