Nature has a good sense of humor: a panda dolphin found swimming upside down in the ocean

Researchers have described a funny species of dolphin with an unusual black-and-white pattern and a curious habit.

Nature has a subtle sense of humor and is capable of surprising us with unexpected collaborations. An example of one of them is the panda dolphin, known to science as Commerson's dolphin: representatives of this species are distinguished by a characteristic black-and-white pattern and have a strange habit of swimming upside down.

Panda dolphins are divided into two subspecies:

Cephalorhynchus commersonii commersonii, living in South America;
Cephalorhynchus commersonii kerguelenensis, living near the Kerguelen Islands in the Indian Ocean.

Representatives of these subspecies live at a distance of about 8,500 kilometers from each other, but scientists still do not know what caused them to move away. The subspecies that lives near the Kerguelen Islands is considered the largest - their length reaches 1.8 meters, and their weight is about 86 kilograms. For comparison, the weight of their South American counterparts is much more modest - only about 45 kilograms.

Both subspecies are distinguished by a characteristic black and white pattern, which inspired scientists to give them various nicknames, including: panda dolphin and skunk dolphin. It should be noted that there are many piebald animals in the world, which are characterized by irregular spots of two colors, most often black and white. The main genetic cause of this pattern is closely related to leucism.

Leucistic animals have a decrease in pigmentation, and not just melanin, as in albinism. At the same time, piebald animals have a decrease in pigmentation only on certain parts of the body. However, a bright tuxedo is not the only thing that is interesting about panda dolphins.

It is thought that the black and white pattern may improve their hunting chances as a form of disruptive camouflage, hiding the dolphins' silhouettes. And to make it easier to spot their prey, they have adapted to swim perfectly upside down.

Interestingly, killer whales use the same tactic, but for different purposes: while hunting, they flip sharks to induce tonic immobility, as flipping species like sharks puts them into a sleep-like or torpor-like state. However, for panda dolphins, this maneuver is not at all threatening.

Researchers have found that Commerson's dolphins display the typical dolphin curiosity about people, and will readily approach boats for rides and wakeboarding. Members of this species are energetic and active, and will often perform figure eights under boats, spinning underwater and jumping out of the water. Scientists also believe that these dolphins, like many other species, seem to enjoy riding waves.