False Killer Whales and Sail Fish come to Koh Tao!! Big Blue Diving was lucky enough to have both Banzai and Navakid stumble across a school of 20 false killer whales yesterday between green rock and twins. and then spend nearly an hour watching them play infront of the bows. The school, which can stretch miles in length, appeared to be hunting a sail fish! False Killer Whales (Psuedorca crassidens) is the largest member of the dolphin family, and like orcas, kill other large marine mammals. They are widespread in the tropics and temperate waters, have 44 teeth and can grow to 6m! However the killer whales also feed on tuna and yellowfin, and so fishermen, such as the Japanese fishermen from Iki Island, actively hunt them, resulting in only 10 groups left worlwide. They are near the brink of extinction, with 900 individuals being slaughtered in 35 years. Also, they only reach sexual maturity at 12 years, with a gestation period of 14-16 months, and then cannot reproduce again for another 7 years. Both of these issues mean that we were very lucky to see such an interesting and rare marine mammal. Lucky us!
News from Bangkok is that Andrea and Jim are allowed to leave the hospital and Lulu Belle is gaining went quickly so she should be out soon. All three are doing amazing and I swear when Jim comes back he will have the most toned face ever. I dont think he has stopped smiling once, you can tell on the phone that his face is about to crack. Good on you Daddy.
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