HYBRID ODONTOCETES POSTER Now here’s a project I have been working on for literal years. I’ve never had much to show for it though (except for a little teaser last year), as work had mostly been little and far between. But after completion of the sketches last year, I’ve now picked it up in earnest. And with the first two illustrations complete and a third in the works, I found it high time to formally introduce the project.
You may know I have a thing for odd dolphins. And way back in 2011 I saw a photo of a very odd dolphin indeed: a presumed hybrid between a Southern right whale dolphin and a Dusky dolphin. It sparked my imagination and the interest never left. I started collecting data on hybrids and eventually the idea for a poster was formed. Please laugh along at the first concept for it - and the stunningly detailed sketches lol. I can reassure you the layout and quality has changed considerably since then.
Due to the vast difference in size and very low number of known hybrids, baleen whales are not included, leaving only the Odontoceti or toothed whales. At the moment no less than 30 hybrids occupy the poster, with 2 more potentially being added. With some 38 species of regular dolphins, that’s quite a number indeed. Instead of waiting years before I can slap the whole poster online, I will upload each hybrid individually as I finish its illustration. That way they each get their deserved moment in the spotlight, because I believe all of them are (scientifically) immensely interesting. The first will soon be uploaded. But for now have a look at the first hybrid I ever painted: that fateful Southern right whale dolphin x Dusky dolphin, from 2012.