# Supersize dolphin-whale? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 8, 2010, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supersize-dolphin-whale/535424 "2010-04-08T16:27:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2010, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supersize-dolphin-whale/535424/1 "2010-04-08T16:27:31Z")
There’s a nasty photo series in today’s Huffpo (actually a link from [life.com](http://life.com)) that shows the butchering of a whale in Japan. Ew gross, yeah, ick… but what interests me is the whale itself. It appears to be the biggest dolphin I have ever seen in my life. In the second shot in the series of 15, it’s plain that the men in the photo would fit inside its mouth, since the long dolphinish snout appears to be at least 3 feet long! I have never heard of a whale that looks like a gigantic dolphin. Any ideas? Photos are [here](http://www.life.com/image/1324263/in-gallery/36282/whalings-gruesome-catch) ---
**Author:** ![jk1245](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/49beb7/32.png) [@jk1245](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jk1245)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2010, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supersize-dolphin-whale/535424/2 "2010-04-08T16:44:43Z")
i’m far from an expert, but it looks like it could a be a [bottlenose whale](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Bottlenose_Whale). Or possibly a [Baird’s beaked whale](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baird's_Beaked_Whale). The Baird’s whale is rare, but still hunted in small numbers by Japan, apparently. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2010, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supersize-dolphin-whale/535424/3 "2010-04-08T16:59:14Z")
It’s a [Baird’s](http://www.smh.com.au/news/whale-watch/killing-whales-is-our-tradition-say-hunters/2007/06/24/1182623745475.html). _Warning_ gory pic. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2010, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supersize-dolphin-whale/535424/4 "2010-04-08T18:03:43Z")
Ummm… the pics themselves identify it as bottlenose whale. Pic 12 > [@](#): > > Whalers slaughter a 32-foot-long bottlenose whale at the Wada port in Chiba, Japan, on June 21, 2007. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2010, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supersize-dolphin-whale/535424/5 "2010-04-08T18:24:14Z")
> [@astro](#): > > Ummm… the pics themselves identify it as bottlenose whale. > > Pic 12 Bottlenose whales are only found in the [Atlantic](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cetacea_range_map_Northern_Bottlenose_Whale.PNG) and [Antarctic](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cetacea_range_map_Southern_Bottlenose_Whale.PNG) oceans. Baird’s Beaked whales are [native to Japanese waters](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cetacea_range_map_Baird%27s_Beaked_Whale.PNG). ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2010, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supersize-dolphin-whale/535424/6 "2010-04-08T18:29:50Z")
The fact that people still hunt whales depresses me to no end ☹