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'Giglioli’s Whale' (''Amphiptera pacifica'') is an unrecognized species of whale observed by Enrico Hillyer Giglioli. It was described as having two dorsal fins, a feature which no known whales have.

Contents

Accounts

External links

References

Accounts

On September 4, 1867 on board a ship called the ''Magenta'' about 1200 miles off the coast of Chile, the zoologist spotted a species of whale which he could not recognize. It was very close to the ship (too close to shoot with a cannon) and was observed for a quarter of an hour, allowing Giglioli to make very detailed observations. The whale looked overall similar to a rorqual, 60 feet (18 m) long with an elongated body, but the most notable difference was the presence of two large dorsal fins about 6.5 feet (2 m) apart. No known whales have twin fins, the rorqual only has a single fin and some other whales have none. Other unusual features include the presence of two long sickle shaped flippers and a lack of furrows present under the throats of rorquals.
Another report of a two finned whale of roughly the same size was recorded from the ship ''Lily'' off the coast of Scotland the following year. In 1983 between Corsica and the French mainland, French zoologist Jacques Maigret sighted a similar looking creature.
Roy Chapman Andrews once thought he saw a double finned whale from a distance of half a mile, but it ended up being a whale and its calf side by side, giving an impression of a double finned whale.

External links

★ Roy Chapman Andrews and the Double-finned whale

★ French website on double-finned cetaceans

References

★ Coleman, Loren and Huyghe, Patrick. ''The Field Guide to Lake Monsters, Sea Serpents, and Other Mystery Denizens of the Deep''. Jeremy P. Tarcher Publishing, November 2003.

★ Shuker, Karl. ''From Flying Toads To Snakes With Wings.'' Llewellyn, 1997. ISBN 1-56718-673-4