Cryptid whale Another argued hypothesis is that that pod was part of an inbred population, which led to the mutation. Another possibility is that Quoy and Gaimard observed specimens which were neither deformed nor members of an unknown species or population, but rather mistaken identification of a pair of beaked whales that, by perspective, appeared to be one single creature. The high-finned sperm whale, or the high-finned cachalot, is an alleged variant or relative of the known sperm whale, "Physeter macrocephalus", with an unusually tall dorsal fin from the North Atlantic. The physician Sir Robert Sibbald, in 1687, described an alleged stranded
Cryptid whale female individual on Orkney, saying its dorsal fins was similar to a "mizzen mast", and the whale, based on Sibbald’s account, was described as "P. tursio". However, naturalist Georges Cuvier disregarded Sibbald’s claim as a bad description of the carcass, as well as dismissing the name "P. tursio". Another alleged sighting was off the Annapolis Basin, Nova Scotia, Canada on September 27, 1946, where the creature was apparently trapped there for 2 days. Its length was estimated to be between . The Alula whale, or the Alula Killer, or "Orcinus mörzer-bruynsus", was discussed and illustrated for the first time, but