A bottlenose dolphin... or is it?

Just when you think you know everything you need to know about dolphins, something comes along that changes the game.  Think all dolphins are heroes?  Well, they’re actually slaughtering porpoises and getting robotic tails to aid them in their pursuit of conquest.  A small sample of an entirely new species of dolphin, called Tursiops australis or the Burrunan dolphin, have been discovered in the waters off of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.  As it turns out, what we thought were only three species of dolphins all this time might actually be more!

“This is an incredibly fascinating discovery as there have only been three new dolphin species formally described and recognised since the late 1800s,” said Kate Charlton-Robb, one of the scientists from Monash University who discovered the new dolphin.  “What makes this even more exciting is this dolphin species has been living right under our noses, with only two known resident populations living in Port Phillip Bay and the Gippsland Lakes in Victoria state.”

There are believed to be only about 150 of the new species of dolphin spread between the two habitats, so streamlining the process of identifying the Burrunan dolphin is of utmost importance.  Monash University’s researchers studied museum pieces and did DNA analysis to determine that T. australis is actually a new species, not just a misidentified bottlenose dolphin.

Tags: Tursiops australis,  Kate Charlton-Robb, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, new species of dolphin discovered in Australia, new species of dolphin discovered in Melbourne, new dolphin species, new dolphin type discovered, animals, unusual animals, sea mammals,  Burrunan dolphins,  Port Phillip Bay, Gippsland Lakes, fourth species of dolphin uncovered, endangered species

I’ve never had a problem eating food from a gas station.  Just two weeks ago, I ate a couple of hot dogs purchased from a gas station.  They were delicious.  That’s not the first time I’ve eaten gas station food, and I doubt it will be the last.  There’s nothing like a fun food novelty. […]

Commissioner Roger Goodell gathered 32 NFL owners for one big question.  One of the league’s most wanderlust-stricken franchises is looking to move again.  The Oakland-Los Angeles-Oakland Raiders, tired of gutting it out in a run-down stadium, were once again looking for greener pastures.  Only the Miami Dolphins refused to cooperate.  With a vote of 31-1, […]

In 2006, an injury to Dallas Cowboys starting quarterback Drew Bledsoe opened the door for an undrafted free agent by the name of Tony Romo to take the helm of America’s Team and lead the Dallas Cowboys to an early playoff exit.  Bledsoe went from starter to afterthought in a season.  Now, the circle continues […]

For 89 years, Oscars has never had a major mistake.  The last few Oscars might have had a few flubs, but at least they never got the most important category of the night wrong.  Well, that’s now changed, all thanks to OG Bonnie and Clyde legends Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway.  When Faye Dunaway called […]

Tom Brady has been wildly successful, if controversial.  He’s the first quarterback ever to win five Super Bowls and only the second player to do so after Charles Haley.  Unlike Haley, Brady won all his Super Bowls with the same team, the New England Patriots.  The only thing that seems to be able to stop […]

Ben Affleck, no matter what you might think of him, is a talented actor and director.  He’s got the goods, but he’s smart enough to know when he’s in over his head.  All along, since he took on the mantle of Batman, he’s had his eyes on writing, directing, and starring as the Caped Crusader. […]

In May, students for the for-profit American College of Education were running into some problems.  Their access to email accounts and course information was locked down by Google, who had disabled their accounts.  The reason why?  A fired IT worker for the American College of Education locked the school out of their Google cloud account. […]