Two additional illustrations made for my previous series on cetaceans in Nicaragua (part 1 and part 2). The client asked for these species after they too had been spotted in Nicaraguan waters, bringing the total number of cetacean species up to 18. Since these illustrations were done super quick (like the others) they are kinda rough. So I put them together and tried to make it a bit more interesting to look at.
Despite the quick painting, these are pretty cool whales. The killer whales here belong to the ETP, a very widespread ecotype of tropical killer whales. They’re often more brownish in colour and sometimes have a very faint or even completely absent saddle patch. Dwarf sperm whales have fake ‘gill markings’ - presumably to make them look more like sharks - and can secrete a dark liquid as a defence mechanism when frightened, just like squid. Fun fact: a killer whale has been seen hunting a dwarf sperm whale in The Bahamas.