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Macropredatory Sperm Whales - by Pete Buchholz | Earth Archives - Fossils and Evolution |

Though living sperm whales focus on squid, 10MYA fossils from Peru show that ancient sperm whales were top predators. Eating primarily marine mammals, filling niches once occupied by mosasaurs, currently filled by orcas.

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White Fossil Was 'Moby Dick' of the Ancient Sea - by By Jane O'Brien | BBC.COM - News - Science | 9th/12/2015

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Sei Whale Balaenoptera Borealis

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Dream Escape - by Yuumei

When the night comes, I float into my dreams. And suddenly the world is beautiful and everything feels like it will be alright.

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Monkey, Dolphin Among 1,00's of New Species Found in Amazon | CBC News - Science |  2nd/09/2017

381 new species found over 24 months

381 New Species Discovered in the Amazon – Some Threatened - by Leticia Fuentes | 30th/08/2017

Study carried out by the NGO WWF catalogued 163 new vertebrates, 216 plants and two fossil specimens

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No Flippant Matter: The Re-Invention of the Flipper & Why Ceatacean Flippers Are Unique - by Moyna K. Müller. | Blog Reel, User Stories

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Seeing the Ocean With A Buzzing Nose - by Carl Zimmer | National Geographic - SCIENCE - THE LOOM | 12th/03/2014

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Where the Water Meets the Sky - by Namu the Orca

Species depicted: Northern right whale dolphin (Lissodelphis borealis) and Pacific white-sided dolphin (Lagenorhynchus obliquidens) Time taken: ~10-15 hours References used: thetruthaboutlolita.webs.com/L… animal.memozee.com/ArchOLD-4/1… www.flickr.com/photos/jimscarf… www.flickr.com/photos/gtepke/3… Tools of the trade: Photoshop CS5

Well, here it is, finally! A mixed pod of both Northern right whale dolphins as well as Pacific white-sided dolphins breaking the glassy smooth surface during sunrise. I've wached the amazing movie 'Life of Pi' some time ago (it was really good, especially given the book was so detailed and difficult to put down in images) and was especially amazed by the scene where Pi wakes up in the morning and the ocean is simply one big mirror, perfectly reflecting the gorgeous sky above. Inspired, I decided to paint something like it - only then without the clouds as I kinda suck at those. The mini contest for the Northern right whale dolphin over at Exp-Marine-Mammals was drawing in near, and it struck me how (ant)arctic cetaceans especially are almost exclusively portrayed in grey or blue scenes. I wanted to flip that view all around and after some googling my suspicions were confirmed: sunrises over Japan, Alaska and the rest of the cold north can be just as orange and spectacular as anywhere else. Thus, this painting was born! It was a real challenge to say the least, mainly the splashes made me go crazy so in the end I just went with the fantastically helpful water splash brushes by FrostBo (I forgot which one it was, he's got several) and cut and modified them along the way where needed.

On a different note, it is quite interesting that both the Northern- as the well as the Southern right whale dolphin closely associate with a species of lagenorhynchus dolphins they share their range with. Whilst the Southerners come together with Dusky dolphins - and even interbreed! - the Northerners are very often seen with Pacific white-sided dolphins. Why would they do this? I know that there has been a proposed new taxonomy of the lagenorhynchus genus in which the Duskies and the Pacific white-sided dolphins would be placed together with Peale's in the genus of Sagmatias, but that is based on the idea these dolphins are more closely related to the cephalorhynchus dolphins. Does anyone know the reason for this Lagenorhynchus/Lissodelphis 'friendship'?

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Baby Whale by Sara Conlan

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Birthday Whales - by Namu the Orca

Species depicted: Killer whale (Orcinus orca), Beluga whale (Delphinapterus leucas) and Spotted eagle ray (Aetobatus narinari) Time taken: Many, many hours References use: A lot for markings of the characters and belugas, though only anatomy refs were for the rays:

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Until Next Time - by Sara Conlan

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tumblr_nq1p3aCIwM1qfrua3o1_1280 - by yillanmishalimm

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