A bottlenose dolphin mother off the coast of French Polynesia was spotted caring for a melon-headed whale. ➡ Subscribe: bit.ly/NatGeoWILDSubscribe About National Geographic Wild: National Geographic Wild is a place for all things animals and for animal-lovers alike. Take a journey through the animal kingdom with us and discover things you never knew before, or rediscover your favorite animals! Get More National Geographic Wild: Official Site: bit.ly/MoreNatGeo Facebook: bit.ly/NGWFacebook Twitter: bit.ly/NGWTwitter Instagram: bit.ly/NGWInstagram In 2014, researchers off French Polynesia spotted a bottlenose dolphin mother caring for an unusual-looking calf. That calf was a melon-headed whale, a different genus and species than the mother. Adoption is uncommon among wild mammals, with most occurring between related members of the same species. The whale orphan entered the dolphin group and stayed with the mother longer than even her biological offspring, who vanished mysteriously. She was even seen nursing it at times. Female bottlenose dolphins have been known to “steal” babies of other species for brief periods of times during times of conflict. In this case, the mother made an enormous time commitment to the orphan. During its three years living with this pod of 30 dolphins, the orphan learned several bottlenose behaviors, such as surfing. Read more in "Dolphin mom adopts whale calf—a first" on.natgeo.com/2OsBR7E Dolphin Mom Adopts a Calf From a Different Species | Nat Geo Wild youtu.be/D0eJzq_LsD8 Nat Geo Wild www.youtube.com/user/NatGeoWild

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