Jenna goes to Hawaii: Wolphins, Sea Lion Pups, Molting, Etc.

Aloha all! I thought I would use this post to tell you all about Kekaimalu, our very own Wolphin!

A Wolphin is a hybrid between a false killer whale and an atlantic bottlenose dolphin. Such hybrids have been known to exist in the wild, but Kekaimalu, whose name means "the peaceful ocean", is the only Wolphin in captivity, and she lives right here at Sea Life Park Hawaii!

In actuality, Kekaimalu is NOT part whale- she is 100% dolphin. You see, the false killer whale is not actually a whale- it is just another species of dolphin. If it were a whale, it would not be able to breed outside of its own genus; i.e., it would not be able to successfully mate with an atlantic bottlenose dolphin.

Another interesting fact about Kekaimalu is that she is a mom! Most hybrids are sterile, but Kermie (our nickname for her) has had three babies. One of them died shortly after birth, and another died at the age of nine. That's really young for a dolphin- we have some animals in the park who are in their forties! And Kermie herself is 23, a year older than yours truly. But her most recent baby was born in 2004, two days before Christmas. This calf's name is Kawili Kai (pronounced ka-VEE-lee KY) and she is 3/4 bottlenose dolphin and 1/4 false killer whale.

In other news, Lambchop has finished her Molt and is looking beautiful! I love this Monk Seal!

Here's Lambie before her molt:

And After! What a beautiful girl!

We also have a three-month old sea lion pup at the park. She doesn't have a name yet, so most people just call her pup-pup. I, however, have christened her Zum-zum, because she loves to zoom through the water like a little torpedo. Anyways. she is super cute! Her mom's name is Uilani (pronounced OO-ee-LAH-nee).