Cryptid whale

Cryptid whales are sea creatures claimed to exist on the basis of informal sightings but not accepted by taxonomists as they lack formal descriptions of type specimens. Over the past few hundred years, sailors and whalers have reported seeing whales they simply cannot identify. By far, the most famous are Giglioli's whale, the rhinoceros dolphin, Trunko, the high-finned sperm whale, and the Alula whale.

Giglioli's whale

Giglioli's whale

Giglioli's whale, or Amphiptera pacifica, is a purported species of whale observed by Enrico Hillyer Giglioli. It is described to have two dorsal fins, a feature which no known whales have. On September 4, 1867 on board a ship called the Magenta about 1,930 kilometres (1,200 mi) off the coast of Chile, the zoologist spotted a species of whale which he could not recognize. It was very close to the ship (too close to shoot with a cannon) and was observed for a quarter of an hour, allowing Giglioli to make very detailed observations. The whale looked overall similar to a rorqual, 18 metres (59 ft) long with an elongated body, but the most notable difference was the presence of two large dorsal fins about 2 metres (6.6 ft) apart. Other unusual features include the presence of two long sickle-shaped flippers and a lack of throat pleats. Another report of a two finned whale of roughly the same size was recorded from the ship Lily off the coast of Scotland the following year. In 1983 between Corsica and the French mainland, French zoologist Jacques Maigret sighted a similar looking creature. Although it has not been proven to exist, it was given a "classification" by Giglioli. The whale may have been a genetic mutation. Another cryptid with two dorsal fins is the fabled rhinoceros dolphin. Given the species' alleged size and attributes, it is extremely doubtful such a species would not have been taken (and reported) by modern commercial whalers, bringing into doubt its very existence. However, many new species of whale have been discovered in recent years, many of them just from carcasses.^[1]

Rhinoceros dolphin

Two separate dolphins appearing as if they're one dolphin by perspective

The rhinoceros dolphin, or Delphinus rhinoceros or Cetodipteros rhinoceros, is a cryptid species of dolphin-oid said to have two dorsal fins, much like Giglioli's whale, but one of the dorsal fins is on the head (hence the name "rhinoceros dolphin"). Off the coast of the Sandwich Islands and New South Wales, Jean René Constant Quoy and Joseph Gaimard allegedly discovered a new type of dolphin. These are dolphins – or dolphin-like whales – which possess two dorsal fins. One is near the head, where the neck would be on terrestrial animals, and the other is farther back than the dorsal fin of any other dolphin. These have a somewhat large size, and are black with large white blotches. Michel Raynal suggested it may have been misobserved somersault behavior (with the first fin being a flipper and the second being a fluke) but dismissed it as unlikely. Georges Cuvier proposed it may have been an optical illusion and Richard Ellis suggested it may have been a dolphin with a remora stuck on its head. Markus Bühler pointed out that one dolphin’s deformed jaw curiously resembles the oddly placed fin or horn of the rhinoceros dolphin. Supernumerary dorsal fins are apparently a genuine mutation, as with Snooky the dolphin, however none have turned up a considerable distance from where the dorsal fin should be positioned, let alone on the head. Raynal and Sylvestre (1991) argued that since Quoy and Gaimard observed multiple individuals exhibiting the morphology, a distinct species, Cetodipterus rhinoceros, would be more probable than a pod of disfigured individuals. Another argued hypothesis is that that pod was part of an inbred population, which led to the mutation. Another possibility is that Quoy and Gaimard observed specimens which were neither deformed nor members of an unknown species or population, but rather mistaken identification of a pair of beaked whales that, by perspective, appeared to be one single creature.^[1]:458

Trunko battling two killer whales

Trunko

Trunko is the nickname for a whale-oid creature reportedly sighted in Margate, South Africa, on October 25, 1924, according to an article entitled "Fish Like A Polar Bear" published in the December 27, 1924, edition of London's Daily Mail. The animal was reputedly first seen off the coast battling two killer whales, which fought the unusual creature for three hours. It used its tail to attack the whales and reportedly lifted itself out of the water by about 6 metres (20 ft). The creature reputedly washed up on Margate Beach but despite being there for 10 days, no scientist ever investigated the carcass while it was beached, so no reliable description has been published, and, until September 2010, it was assumed that no photographs of it had ever been published. Some people, who remained anonymous, were reported to have described the animal as possessing snowy-white fur, an elephantine trunk, a lobster-like tail, and a carcass devoid of blood. While it was beached, the animal was measured by beach-goers and turned out to be 14 metres (46 ft) from trunk to tail, 3 metres (9.8 ft) from flipper to flipper, and 1.5 metres (4.9 ft) from the belly to the back; the trunk's length was 1.5 metres (4.9 ft) long, and its diameter 36 centimetres (14 in); the tail was 3 metres (9.8 ft) long, and the fur was 20 centimetres (7.9 in) long. The trunk was said to be attached directly to the animal's torso, as no head was visible on the carcass. For this feature, the animal was dubbed "Trunko" by Karl Shuker in his 1996 book The Unexplained. In the March 27, 1925, edition of the Charleroi Mail, an article entitled "Whales Slain By Hairy Monster" reported that whales there were killed by a strange creature who washed up onto a beach exhausted and fell unconscious; it made its way back into the ocean and swam away after 10 days, never to be seen again.^[2]

High-finned sperm whale

High-finned sperm whale

The high-finned sperm whale, or Physeter tursio, is a supposed variant or relative of the known sperm whale, Physeter macrocephalus, that is said to live in the seas around the Shetland Islands, the Southern Ocean, and Nova Scotia. The major difference between this creature and other sperm whales, as the name implies, is the presence of a tall dorsal fin on its back, which Physeter macrocephalus lacks. Two such stranded whales were supposedly observed by Sir Robert Sibbald. He described their dorsal fins as being similar to a "mizzen mast". Although species cannot be given scientific names until a type specimen is discovered, Physeter tursio has been suggested as the high-finned sperm whale's scientific name by the early observer. A possible sighting was off the Annapolis Basin, Nova Scotia, Canada on September 27, 1946. It was apparently trapped there for 2 days. Its length was estimated to be between 3 to 30 metres (9.8 to 98.4 ft).^[1]:233

Alula whale

The Alula whale, or the Alula Killer, is a cryptid that resembles a sepia brown killer whale with a well-rounded forehead and white, star-like scars on the body. The dorsal fin, supposedly 60 centimetres (24 in) high, is prominent and often protrudes well above the surface of the water. It is said to be roughly 7.3 metres (24 ft) long, and weighs around 1.8 metric tons (2.0 short tons). This species was discussed and illustrated for the first time, but not formally named, by W. F. J. Mörzer Bruyns in Field Guide of Whales and Dolphins. It has been reported along the Eastern Gulf of Aden to Socotra, and orcas have been seen in the area that are of a sepia brown color; however, they could be a local color variant or a mutation.^[1]:6

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