Pilot Whales
Globicephala
Summary 2
The Pilot Whales are two species, the Short-Finned Pilot Whale and the Long-Finned Pilot Whale, which make up the genus, Globicephala, part of the Dolphin family. The two species are not easily distinguishable at sea however of the two, the long-finned tends to prefer colder waters, and the short-finned pilot whale is found in warmer tropical and subtropical waters. They feed on squid and fish such as mackerel, diving to very deep depths in seach of their prey.
Length 12-21 ft (3.6-6.4 m)
Weight 2,000-8,000 lb (900-3.600 kg)
Pilot whales are highly social and live is large social groups. They use complicated calls made up of clicks and whistles to communicate. Pilot whales are the most common species to strand themselves. It is thought that the strong social bonds contribute the whole pods stranding themselves.
Population and Conservation Status 3
The Global Population is Unknown for both species however survey estimates indicate that there could be as many as 1,000,000 animals across the two species.
Both the Short-finned and Long-finned Pilots whales are Data Deficient
Sources and Credits
- (c) Anita, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://www.flickr.com/photos/61897811@N00/42029849
- Adapted by Bodacious Dream - Dave Rearick from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Globicephala
- (c) Bodacious Dream - Dave Rearick, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)
