The oceans surroundiing Africa are bountiful indeed, and conservationists in the area are often surprised by what they find – as was the case at the end of April this year, when a bird and marine life survey came across 3 individuals of the enigmatic Pygmy Killer Whale species.
最近对坦桑尼亚水域的鲸类物种的调查和分析证实了20种鲸类。这一消息使人们急需在非洲东南部的水域进行系统的外观。尽管南非的人口相当广泛，但这些生物的范围很广，并且它们的生态综合体 - 因此，在地方地区有更大的背景理解是关键。这种目击是在莫桑比克周围的水域中进行的，今天在《杂志》上出版Marine Biodiversity Records, an official journal of theMarine Biological Association.
So whatisthe Pygmy killer whale?
Pygmy Killer Whales (Feresa attenuata) are an enigmatic and rarely seen species. For almost a century the species was only know by the recovery of two skulls, until the 1950s. A blackfish-boat harpooned one of the individuals, and since that point their have only been a scattering of sightings, in the Indian and Western Pacific oceans. Strandings, bycatch and sight records have made up the bulk of the current data. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) classifies the species simply as “Data Deficient” because we know so little about them.
Another point that contributes to our lack of understanding is the frequent misidentification of individuals – often physically similar to the Melon-headed Whale (Peponacephala electra) or on some occassions the False killer whale (Pseudorca crassidens). In this sighting, indeed, they were initially misidentified as Spinner dolphins (Stenella longirostris)!
一个深灰色的物种，从头到氟的身体狭窄，通常在大约2米长的位置上面。他们大部分时间都花在更深的水域中，捕食头足类动物，上层鱼甚至其他鲸类动物，例如普通的海豚。通常，在被囚禁中，他们被看到high-level of aggression, eliciting “fear reactions” in other cetacean species and moving aggressively toward trainers.
Why is this important?
A poorly-understood species is often a poorly-protected species. While they can be helped by blanket legislation to limit whaling, spear-fishing and commercial fishing, it is vital that all records of the species are collected so the marine ecology community can better understand their population dynamics, what they may be at risk from, and in which areas they show resilience. It also helps as part of a wider initiative to conduct surveys on the waters around Mozambique, and the African coast of the Indian Ocean, which is widely underrepresented in the current literature.
The development of guides and accumulation of records will also allow both researchers and the public a better chance at identifying these species in the wild, which will in turn increase the fidelity of our species distribution data.
On World Oceans Day, we urge everyone to consider the rare, the unkown and the mysterious in our oceans. The more we learn, the more we can see, the more we can do to protect it all.
One of the beautiful things of modern ecology is that we don’t just report on these sightings, we can show you them as they happened, as with the video below:
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