Again our diveguide column falls into the category of "UNUSUAL SIGHTINGS"
On one of our Brothers & Elphinstone trips in February we were lucky to come across a marine mammal species that we rarely encounter in the Red Sea, the false killer whale (Pseudorca crassidens)!!!
With a maximum length of up to 6 m, dark grey coloration, oval-shaped, beak-less head and the rounded, sickle-shaped fin, false killer whales differ greatly from the other species we commonly spot from our live-aboards.
Like their closest relatives, the Orca or killer whale, the pygmy killer whale, and the two pilot whale species, false killer whales are - systematically - large dolphin species. Unlike most dolphins though, they occasionally feed on other marine mammals, such as seals, other dolphins and even larger whales.
Being "Whale-Killers" is actually also where their species name originated from.
While being moored up at Small Brother in the middle of February, a pod of more than 20 individuals came passing by and some of the divers just returning to blue Fin by zodiac joined them in the water& actually quite unaware of how special this encounter was.
For about another hour, the pod stayed within sight of the boat, including a few close approaches to our bow and aerial behaviour in the distance, indicating socialising behaviour& They eventually continued heading south/south-east, although we could still hear them faintly on our next dive.
A few things made this encounter stick out. It was only the third time in 6 years of working on Red Sea live-aboards, that I ever saw these dolphins. The two previous encounters consisted of quick swim-bys of between 6-10 individuals, both times in summer and much further south.
While there have been occasional reports of false killer whales from Ras Mohamed, and - actually - from all the way up in the Gulf of Aqaba, it is a rare treat to spot these elusive and fascinating open-ocean travelers at dive-sites in the Egyptian Red Sea.
By Elke Bojanowski