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I witnessed two Omura's whales for the first time and recorded the encounter. We encountered an uncommon Omura’s whale near the shore during our morning trip from Com to Dili, along with my dog @shadowvagabon

These small tropical whales are exceptionally rare, especially within tropical regions, primarily staying offshore, resulting in infrequent sightings. While Raja Ampat is renowned for regular sightings, discovering them in Timor wasn't unexpected. Their diminutive size and elusive behavior often render them challenging to spot in tropical areas, aligning with current theories about their distribution and behavior.

Omura's whale, identified as a distinct whale species in 2003 from deceased specimens and first observed alive in the wild in 2015, represents one of the most recently discovered whale species. Current research suggests that Omura's whales (Balaenoptera omurai) inhabit the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean, although their full geographic range remains somewhat unclear.

The record (an adult, lactating female) was already published in: Ciechanowski M., Wikar Z., Borzym K., Jankowska-Jarek M., Bidziński K., Dudek D., Otczyk K., Celiński D., Misiuna Ł. 2023. Lower montane bat assemblage in a Central European protected area: a case study in the Świętokrzyski National Park, Poland. Acta Zoologica Bulgarica: 75: 395–406. Photo by Zuzanna Wikar. Forearm length = 31.9 mm.