Pilot whales are

cetacean Cetacea (; , ) is an infraorder of aquatic mammals that includes whales, dolphins, and porpoises. Key characteristics are their fully aquatic lifestyle, streamlined body shape, often large size and exclusively carnivorous diet. They propel the ...

s belonging to the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomencla ...

''Globicephala''. The two

extant Extant is the opposite of the word extinct. It may refer to: * Extant hereditary titles * Extant literature, surviving literature, such as ''Beowulf'', the oldest extant manuscript written in English * Extant taxon, a taxon which is not extin ...

species are the

long-finned pilot whale The long-finned pilot whale (''Globicephala melas'') is a large species of oceanic dolphin. It shares the genus '' Globicephala'' with the short-finned pilot whale (''Globicephala macrorhynchus''). Long-finned pilot whales are known as such be ...

(''G. melas'') and the

short-finned pilot whale The short-finned pilot whale (''Globicephala macrorhynchus'') is one of the two species of cetaceans in the genus '' Globicephala'', which it shares with the long-finned pilot whale (''G. melas''). It is part of the oceanic dolphin family (Delp ...

(''G. macrorhynchus''). The two are not readily distinguishable at sea, and analysis of the skulls is the best way to distinguish between the species. Between the two species, they range nearly worldwide, with long-finned pilot whales living in colder waters and short-finned pilot whales living in tropical and subtropical waters. Pilot whales are among the largest of the

oceanic dolphin Oceanic dolphins or Delphinidae are a widely distributed family of dolphins that live in the sea. Close to forty extant species are recognised. They include several big species whose common names contain "whale" rather than "dolphin", such as th ...

s, exceeded in size only by the

orca The orca or killer whale (''Orcinus orca'') is a toothed whale belonging to the oceanic dolphin family, of which it is the largest member. It is the only extant species in the genus ''Orcinus'' and is recognizable by its black-and-white pat ...

. They and other large members of the dolphin family are also known as

blackfish Blackfish is a common name for the following species of fish, dolphins, and whales: Fish * Alaska blackfish, (''Dallia pectoralis''), an Esocidae from Alaska, Siberia and the Bering Sea islands * Black fish ('' Carassioides acuminatus'') a cyp ...

. Pilot whales feed primarily on squid, but will also hunt large

demersal fish Demersal fish, also known as groundfish, live and feed on or near the bottom of seas or lakes (the demersal zone).Walrond Carl . "Coastal fish - Fish of the open sea floor"Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Updated 2 March 2009 They occ ...

such as

cod Cod is the common name for the demersal fish genus ''Gadus'', belonging to the family Gadidae. Cod is also used as part of the common name for a number of other fish species, and one species that belongs to genus ''Gadus'' is commonly not calle ...

and

turbot The turbot (''Scophthalmus maximus'') is a relatively large species of flatfish in the family Scophthalmidae. It is a demersal fish native to marine or brackish waters of the Northeast Atlantic, Baltic Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. It is an im ...

. They are highly social and may remain with their birth pod throughout their lifetime. Short-finned pilot whales are one of the few mammal species in which females go through

menopause Menopause, also known as the climacteric, is the time in women's lives when menstrual periods stop permanently, and they are no longer able to bear children. Menopause usually occurs between the age of 47 and 54. Medical professionals often ...

, and postreproductive females continue to contribute to their pod. Pilot whales are notorious for stranding themselves on beaches, but the reason behind this is not fully understood, although marine biologists have shed light on the discovery it is due to the mammals inner ear (their principle navigational sonar) being damaged from noise-pollution in the ocean, such as from cargo ships or military exercises. The

conservation status The conservation status of a group of organisms (for instance, a species) indicates whether the group still exists and how likely the group is to become extinct in the near future. Many factors are taken into account when assessing conservation ...

of short-finned and long-finned pilot whales has been determined to be

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

Naming

The animals were named "pilot whales" because pods were believed to be "piloted" by a leader. They are also called "pothead whales" and "blackfish". The genus name is a combination of the Latin word ''globus'' ("round ball" or "globe") and the Greek word ''Kephale'' ("head").

Taxonomy and evolution

Pilot whales are classified into two species; the

(''Globicephala melas'') and the

(''G. macrorhynchus'') The short-finned pilot whale was described, from skeletal materials only, by

John Edward Gray John Edward Gray, FRS (12 February 1800 – 7 March 1875) was a British zoologist. He was the elder brother of zoologist George Robert Gray and son of the pharmacologist and botanist Samuel Frederick Gray (1766–1828). The same is used for ...

in 1846. He presumed from the skeleton that the whale had a large beak. The long-finned pilot whale was first classified by

Thomas Stewart Traill Thomas Stewart Traill (29 October 1781 – 30 July 1862) was a British physician, chemist, meteorologist, zoologist and scholar of medical jurisprudence. He was the grandfather of the physicist, meteorologist and geologist Robert Traill Omo ...

in 1809 as ''Delphinus melas''. Its scientific name was eventually changed to ''Globicephala melaena''. Since 1986, the specific name of the long-finned pilot whale was changed to its original form ''melas''. Other species classifications have been proposed but only two have been accepted. There exist geographic forms of short-finned pilot whales off the east coast of Japan, which comprise genetically isolated stocks. Fossils of an extinct relative, ''Globicephala baereckeii'', have been found in

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was finally confirmed in ...

deposits in Florida. Another ''Globicephala'' dolphin was discovered in

Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.333 million to 2.58G. etruriae''. Evolution of ''Tappanaga'', the endemic, larger form of short-finned pilots found in northern Japan, with similar characteristics to the whales found along

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are of land. The island is the largest by ...

and northern USA coasts, have been indicated that the geniture of this form could be caused by the extinction of long-finned pilots in north Pacific in the 12th century where ''Magondou'', the smaller, southern type possibly filled the former

niche Niche may refer to: Science * Developmental niche, a concept for understanding the cultural context of child development *Ecological niche, a term describing the relational position of an organism's species * Niche differentiation, in ecology, th ...

s of long-finned pilots, adapting and colonizing into colder waters.

Description

Pilot whales are mostly dark grey, brown, or black, but have some light areas such as a grey saddle patch behind the

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin located on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates within various taxa of the animal kingdom. Many species of animals possessing dorsal fins are not particularly closely related to each other, though through co ...

. Other light areas are an anchor-shaped patch under the chin, a faint blaze marking behind the eye, a large marking on the belly, and a genital patch. The dorsal fin is set forward on the back and sweeps backwards. A pilot whale is more robust than most dolphins, and has a distinctive large, bulbous

melon A melon is any of various plants of the family Cucurbitaceae with sweet, edible, and fleshy fruit. The word "melon" can refer to either the plant or specifically to the fruit. Botanically, a melon is a kind of berry, specifically a " pepo". The ...

. Pilot whales' long, sickle-shaped flippers and tail stocks are flattened from side to side. Male long-finned pilot whales develop more circular melons than females, although this does not seem to be the case for short-finned pilot whales off the Pacific coast of Japan. Pilot whale spyhop

Long-finned and short-finned pilot whales are so similar, it is difficult to tell the two species apart. They were traditionally differentiated by the length of the pectoral flippers relative to total body length and the number of teeth. The long-finned pilot whale was thought to have 9–12 teeth in each row and flippers one-fifth of total body length, compared to the short-finned pilot whale with its 7–9 teeth in each row and flippers one-sixth of total body length. Studies of whales in the Atlantic showed much overlap in these characteristics between the species, making them

cline Cline may refer to: Science * Cline (biology), a measurable gradient in a single trait in a species across its geographical range * Cline (hydrology), a fluid layer with a property that varies * Cline (mathematics) or generalised circle, a cir ...

s instead of distinctive features. Thus, biologists have since used skull differences to distinguish the two species. The size and weight depend on the species, as long-finned pilot whales are generally larger than short-finned pilot whales. Their lifespans are about 45 years in males and 60 years in females for both species. Both species exhibit

sexual dimorphism Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most anim ...

. Adult long-finned pilot whales reach a body length of approximately 6.5 m, with males being 1 m longer than females. Their body mass reaches up to 1,300 kg in females and up to 2,300 kg in males.Jefferson, T. A, Webber, M. A., Pitman, R. L., (2008)
Marine mammals of the world
'. Elsevier, Amsterdam. For short-finned pilot whales, adult females reach a body length of about 5.5 m, while males reach 7.2 m and may weigh up to 3,200 kg.

Distribution and habitat

Pilot whales can be found in oceans nearly worldwide, but data about current population sizes is deficient. The long-finned pilot whale prefers slightly cooler waters than the short-finned, and is divided into two populations. The smaller group is found in a circumpolar band in the

Southern Ocean The Southern Ocean, also known as the Antarctic Ocean, comprises the southernmost waters of the World Ocean, generally taken to be south of 60° S latitude and encircling Antarctica. With a size of , it is regarded as the second-small ...

from about 20 to 65°S. It may be sighted off the coasts of

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

, Australia, and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island country ...

. An estimated more than 200,000 individuals were in this population in 2006. The second, much larger, population inhabits the North

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Afr ...

, in a band from

South Carolina )'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

in the United States across to the

Azores ) , motto =( en, "Rather die free than subjected in peace") , anthem= ( en, "Anthem of the Azores") , image_map=Locator_map_of_Azores_in_EU.svg , map_alt=Location of the Azores within the European Union , map_caption=Location of the Azores wi ...

and

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

at its southern edge and from

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is ...

, Iceland, and northern

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and th ...

at its northern limit. This population was estimated at 778,000 individuals in 1989. It is also present in the western half of the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

. The short-finned pilot whale is less populous. It is found in temperate and tropical waters of the

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

, Atlantic and

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

Oceans. Its population overlaps slightly with the long-finned pilot whale in the temperate waters of the North Atlantic and Southern Oceans.Olson, P.A. (2008) "Pilot whale '' Globicephala melas and G. muerorhynchus''" pp. 847–52 in
Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals
', Perrin, W. F., Wursig, B., and Thewissen, J. G. M. (eds.), Academic Press; 2nd edition, About 150,000 individuals are found in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. More than 30,000 animals are estimated in the western Pacific, off the coast of Japan. Pilot whales are generally nomadic, but some populations stay year-round in places such as

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is ...

and parts of California. They prefer the waters of the shelf break and

slope In mathematics, the slope or gradient of a line is a number that describes both the ''direction'' and the ''steepness'' of the line. Slope is often denoted by the letter ''m''; there is no clear answer to the question why the letter ''m'' is used ...

. Once commonly seen off of Southern California, short-finned pilot whales disappeared from the area after a strong

El Niño El Niño (; ; ) is the warm phase of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and is associated with a band of warm ocean water that develops in the central and east-central equatorial Pacific (approximately between the International Date Li ...

year in the early 1980s, according to the

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (abbreviated as NOAA ) is an United States scientific and regulatory agency within the United States Department of Commerce that forecasts weather, monitors oceanic and atmospheric conditio ...

. In October 2014, crew and passengers on several boats spotted a pod of 50–200 off

Dana Point, California Dana Point () is a city located in southern Orange County, California, United States. The population was 33,107 at the 2020 census. It has one of the few harbors along the Orange County coast, and with ready access via State Route 1, it is a po ...

Behavior and life history

Foraging and parasites

Although pilot whales are not known to have many predators, possible threats come from humans and killer whales. Both species eat primarily

squid True squid are molluscs with an elongated soft body, large eyes, eight arms, and two tentacles in the superorder Decapodiformes, though many other molluscs within the broader Neocoleoidea are also called squid despite not strictly fitting t ...

. The whales make seasonal inshore and offshore movements in response to the dispersal of their prey. Fish that are consumed include

Atlantic cod The Atlantic cod (''Gadus morhua'') is a benthopelagic fish of the family Gadidae, widely consumed by humans. It is also commercially known as cod or codling.Atlantic mackerel The Atlantic mackerel (''Scomber scombrus''), also known as Boston mackerel, Norwegian mackerel, Scottish mackerel or just mackerel, is a species of mackerel found in the temperate waters of the Mediterranean Sea, the Black Sea, and the northern ...

Atlantic herring Atlantic herring (''Clupea harengus'') is a herring in the family Clupeidae. It is one of the most abundant fish species in the world. Atlantic herrings can be found on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, congregating in large schools. They can ...

hake The term hake refers to fish in the: * Family Merlucciidae of northern and southern oceans * Family Phycidae (sometimes considered the subfamily Phycinae in the family Gadidae) of the northern oceans Hake Hake is in the same taxonomic order (Ga ...

, and

spiny dogfish The spiny dogfish (''Squalus acanthias''), spurdog, mud shark, or piked dogfish is one of the best known species of the Squalidae (dogfish) family of sharks, which is part of the Squaliformes order. While these common names may apply to several ...

in the northwest Atlantic. In the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic archipelago, island group and an autonomous territory of the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. They are located north-northwest of Scotlan ...

, whales mostly eat squid, but will also eat fish species such as

greater argentine The greater argentine (''Argentina silus'' ; synonymous with ''Salmo silus''), also known as the Atlantic argentine, great silver smelt, herring smelt or simply smelt, is a northern Atlantic herring smelt and can be found at depths from . Thi ...

and

blue whiting The blue whiting (''Micromesistius poutassou'') one of the two species in the genus ''Micromesistius'' in the family Gadidae, which also contains cod, haddock, whiting, and pollock. It is common in the northeast Atlantic Ocean from Morocco to Ic ...

. However, Faroe whales do not seem to feed on

herring Herring are forage fish, mostly belonging to the family of Clupeidae. Herring often move in large schools around fishing banks and near the coast, found particularly in shallow, temperate waters of the North Pacific and North Atlantic Oceans, ...

, or

mackerel Mackerel is a common name applied to a number of different species of pelagic fish, mostly from the family Scombridae. They are found in both temperate and tropical seas, mostly living along the coast or offshore in the oceanic environment. ...

even when they are abundant. Pilot whales generally take several breaths before diving for a few minutes. Feeding dives may last over ten minutes. They are capable of diving to depths of 600 meters, but most dives are to a depth of 30–60 m. Shallow dives tend to take place during the day, while deeper ones take place at night. When making deep dives, pilot whales often make fast sprints to catch fast-moving prey such as squid. Compared to

sperm whale The sperm whale or cachalot (''Physeter macrocephalus'') is the largest of the toothed whales and the largest toothed predator. It is the only living member of the genus '' Physeter'' and one of three extant species in the sperm whale fami ...

s and

beaked whales Beaked whales (systematic name Ziphiidae) are a family of cetaceans noted as being one of the least known groups of mammals because of their deep-sea habitat and apparent low abundance. Only three or four of the 24 species are reasonably well-k ...

, foraging short-finned pilot whales are more energetic at the same depth. When they reach the end of their dives, pilot whales will sprint, possibly to catch prey, and then make a few buzzes. This is unusual considering deep-diving, breath-holding animals would be expected to swim slowly to conserve oxygen. The animal's high metabolism possibly allows it to sprint at deep depths, which would also give it shorter diving periods than some other marine mammals. This may also be the case for long-finned pilot whales. Pilot whales are often infested with

whale lice A whale louse is a commensal crustacean of the family Cyamidae. Despite the name, it is not a true louse (which are insects), but rather is related to the skeleton shrimp, most species of which are found in shallower waters. Whale lice are exter ...

cestodes Cestoda is a class of parasitic worms in the flatworm phylum (Platyhelminthes). Most of the species—and the best-known—are those in the subclass Eucestoda; they are ribbon-like worms as adults, known as tapeworms. Their bodies consist of ma ...

, and

nematodes The nematodes ( or grc-gre, Νηματώδη; la, Nematoda) or roundworms constitute the phylum Nematoda (also called Nemathelminthes), with plant- parasitic nematodes also known as eelworms. They are a diverse animal phylum inhabiting a bro ...

. They also can be hosts to various pathogenic bacteria and viruses, such as ''

Streptococcus ''Streptococcus'' is a genus of gram-positive ' (plural ) or spherical bacteria that belongs to the family Streptococcaceae, within the order Lactobacillales (lactic acid bacteria), in the phylum Bacillota. Cell division in streptococci occur ...

'', ''

Pseudomonas ''Pseudomonas'' is a genus of Gram-negative, Gammaproteobacteria, belonging to the family Pseudomonadaceae and containing 191 described species. The members of the genus demonstrate a great deal of metabolic diversity and consequently are able to ...

'', ''

Escherichia ''Escherichia'' () is a genus of Gram-negative, non-spore-forming, facultatively anaerobic, rod-shaped bacteria from the family Enterobacteriaceae. In those species which are inhabitants of the gastrointestinal tracts of warm-blooded animals, ''E ...

'', ''

Staphylococcus ''Staphylococcus'' is a genus of Gram-positive bacteria in the family Staphylococcaceae from the order Bacillales. Under the microscope, they appear spherical (cocci), and form in grape-like clusters. ''Staphylococcus'' species are facultat ...

'', and

influenza Influenza, commonly known as "the flu", is an infectious disease caused by influenza viruses. Symptoms range from mild to severe and often include fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, coughing, and fatigue. These symptoms ...

. One sample of Newfoundland pilot whales found the most common illness was an

upper respiratory tract infection An upper respiratory tract infection (URTI) is an illness caused by an acute infection, which involves the upper respiratory tract, including the nose, sinuses, pharynx, larynx or trachea. This commonly includes nasal obstruction, sore throat, ...

Social structure

Both species live in groups of 10–30, but some groups may number 100 or more. Data suggest the social structures of pilot whale pods are similar to those of "

resident Resident may refer to: People and functions * Resident minister, a representative of a government in a foreign country * Resident (medicine), a stage of postgraduate medical training * Resident (pharmacy), a stage of postgraduate pharmaceutic ...

" killer whales. The pods are highly stable and the members have close

matrilineal Matrilineality is the tracing of kinship through the female line. It may also correlate with a social system in which each person is identified with their matriline – their mother's lineage – and which can involve the inheritance o ...

relationships. Pod members are of various age and sex classes, although adult females tend to outnumber adult males. They have been observed making various kin-directed behaviors, such as providing food.Pryor, K., Norris K. S, Marsh, H., Kasuya, T. (1991) "Changes in the role of a female pilot whale with age", pp. 281–86 in
Dolphin societies
', Pryor, K., Norris K. S. (eds), Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. Numerous pods will temporarily gather, perhaps to allow individuals from different pods to interact and mate, as well as provide protection. Both species are loosely

polygynous Polygyny (; from Neoclassical Greek πολυγυνία (); ) is the most common and accepted form of polygamy around the world, entailing the marriage of a man with several women. Incidence Polygyny is more widespread in Africa than in any ...

. Data suggest both males and females remain in their mother's pod for life; despite this, inbreeding within a pod does not seem to occur. During aggregations, males will temporarily leave their pods to mate with females from other pods. Male reproductive dominance or competition for mates does not seem to exist. After mating, a male pilot whale usually spends only a few months with a female, and an individual may sire several offspring in the same pod. Males return to their own pods when the aggregations disband, and their presence may contribute to the survival of the other pod members. No evidence of "bachelor" groups has been found. Pilot whale pods off southern California have been observed in three different groups: traveling/hunting groups, feeding groups and loafing groups. In traveling/hunting groups, individuals position themselves in chorus lines stretching two miles long, with only a few whales underneath. Sexual and age-class segregation apparently occurs in these groups. In feeding groups, individuals are very loosely associated, but may move in the same direction. In loafing groups, whales number between 12 and 30 individuals resting. Mating and other behaviors may take place.

Reproduction and lifecycle

Pilot whales have one of the longest birth intervals of the cetaceans, calving once every three to five years. Most matings and calvings occur during the summer for long-finned pilot whales.Jefferson T. A., Leatherwood, S., Webber, M. A. (1993) "FAO Species identification guide. Marine mammals of the world". ''UNEP/FAO'', Rome. tp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/009/t0725e/t0725e00.pdf Preview For short-finned pilot whales of the Southern Hemisphere, births are at their highest in spring and autumn, while in Northern Hemisphere, the time in which calving peaks can vary by population. For long-finned pilot whales, gestation lasts 12–16 months, and short-finned pilot whales have a 15-month gestation period. The calf nurses for 36–42 months, allowing for extensive mother-calf bonds. Young pilot whales will take milk until as old as 13–15 years of age. Short-finned pilot whale females will go through

, but this is not as common in females of long-finned pilot whales. Postreproductive females possibly play important roles in the survival of the young. Postreproductive females will continue to lactate and nurse young. Since they can no longer bear young of their own, these females invest in the current young, allowing them to feed even though they are not their own. Short-finned pilot whales grow more slowly than long-finned pilot whales. For the short-finned pilot whale, females become sexually mature at 9 years old and males at about 13–16 years. For the long-finned pilot whale, females reach maturity at around eight years and males at around 12 years.

Vocalizations

Pilot whales emit echolocation clicks for foraging and whistles and burst pulses as social signals (e.g. to keep contact with members of their pod). With active behavior, vocalizations are more complex, while less-active behavior is accompanied by simple vocalizations. Differences have been found in the calls of the two species. Compared with short-finned pilot whales, long-finned pilot whales have relatively low-frequency calls with narrow frequency ranges. In one study of North Atlantic long-finned pilot whales, certain vocalizations were heard to accompany certain behaviors. When resting or "milling", simple whistles are emitted. Surfacing behavior is accompanied by more complex whistles and pulsed sounds. The number of whistles made increases with the number of subgroups and the distance in which the whales are spread apart. A study of short-finned pilot whales off the southwest coast of

Tenerife Tenerife (; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands. It is home to 43% of the total population of the archipelago. With a land area of and a population of 978,100 inhabitants as of Janu ...

in the Canary Islands has found the members of a pod maintained contact with each other through call repertoires unique to their pod. A later study found, when foraging at around 800 m deep, short-finned pilot whales make tonal calls. The number and length of the calls seem to decrease with depth despite being farther away from

conspecifics Biological specificity is the tendency of a characteristic such as a behavior or a biochemical variation to occur in a particular species. Biochemist Linus Pauling stated that "Biological specificity is the set of characteristics of living organis ...

at the surface. As such, the surrounding water pressure affects the energy of the calls, but it does not appear to affect the frequency levels. When in stressful situations, pilot whales produce "shrills" or "plaintive cries", which are variations of their whistles. To elude predators, long-finned Pilot whales off the southern coast of Australia have been observed to mimic the calls of orcas while scavenging for food. This behaviour is thought to deter orca pods from approaching the Pilot whales.

Stranding

Of the cetaceans, pilot whales are among the most common stranders. Because of their strong social bonds, whole groups of pilot whales will strand. Single stranders have been recorded and these are usually diseased. Group stranding tends to be of mostly healthy individuals. Several hypotheses have been proposed to explain group strandings. When using magnetic fields for navigation, the whales have been suggested to get perplexed by geomagnetic anomalies or they may be following a sick member of their group that got stranded. The pod also may be following a member of high importance that got stranded and a secondary social response makes them keep returning.Ridgway, S. H. (1998).
Handbook of Marine Mammals: The second book of dolphins and the porpoises, Volume 6
', Elsevier. pp. 245–69. Researchers from New Zealand have successfully used secondary social responses to keep a stranding pod of long-finned pilot whales from returning to the beach. In addition, the young members of the pod were taken offshore to buoys, and their distress calls lured the older whales back out to sea. In September 2022, nearly 200 pilot whales died after becoming stranded on Ocean Beach, part of Tasmania's west coast. Authorities said only about 35 survived of the 230 that were stranded.

Human interaction

The

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

lists long-finned pilot whales as "least concern" in the

Red List of Threatened Species The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biologi ...

. Long-finned pilot whales in the North and Baltic Seas are listed in Appendix II of the

Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals The Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals, also known as the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) or the Bonn Convention, is an international agreement that aims to conserve migratory species throughout their ra ...

(CMS). Those from northwest and northeast Atlantic may also need to be included to Appendix II of CMS. The short-finned pilot whale is listed on Appendix II of

CITES CITES (shorter name for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, also known as the Washington Convention) is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals from the threats of interna ...

Hunting

Killed pilot wales in hvalba, faroe islands

The long-finned pilot whale has traditionally been hunted by "

driving Driving is the controlled operation and movement of a vehicle, including cars, motorcycles, trucks, buses, and bicycles. Permission to drive on public highways is granted based on a set of conditions being met and drivers are required to foll ...

", which involves many hunters and boats gathering in a semicircle behind a pod of whales close to shore, and slowly driving them towards a bay, where they become stranded and are then slaughtered. This practice was common in both the 19th and 20th centuries. The whales were hunted for bone, meat, oil, and fertilizer. In the

, pilot whale hunting started at least in the 16th century, and continued into modern times, with thousands being killed during the 1970s and 1980s. In other parts of the North Atlantic, such as

, West Greenland, Ireland and

Cape Cod Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of mainland Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer mont ...

, pilot whales have also been hunted, but to a lesser extent. One fishery at Cape Cod harvested 2,000–3,000 whales per year during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

's long-finned pilot whale fishery was at its highest in 1956, but declined shortly after and is now defunct. In the Southern Hemisphere, exploitation of long-finned pilot whales has been sporadic and low. Currently, long-finned pilot whales are only hunted at the Faroe Islands and Greenland. According to the IUCN the harvesting of this species for food in the Faroe Islands and Greenland has not resulted in any detectable declines in abundance. The short-finned pilot whale has also been hunted for many centuries, particularly by Japanese whalers. Between 1948 and 1980, hundreds of whales were exploited at

Hokkaido is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The lar ...

and

Sanriku , sometimes known as , lies on the northeastern side of the island of Honshu, corresponding to today's Aomori, Iwate and parts of Miyagi Prefecture and has a long history. The 36 bays of this irregular coastline tend to amplify the destructivenes ...

in the north and

Taiji Tai chi (), short for Tai chi ch'üan ( zh, s=太极拳, t=太極拳, first=t, p=Tàijíquán, labels=no), sometimes called "shadowboxing", is an internal Chinese martial art practiced for defense training, health benefits and meditation. Ta ...

, Izu, and

Okinawa is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 Square kilometre, km2 (880 sq mi). ...

in the south. These fisheries were at their highest in the late 1940s and early 1950s; 2,326 short-finned pilot whales were harvested in the mid- to late 1980s. This had decreased to about 400 per year by the 1990s. Pilot whales have also fallen victim to bycatches. In one year, around 30 short-finned pilot whales were caught by the squid round-haul fishery in southern California. Likewise, California's drift gill net fishery took around 20 whales a year in the mid-1990s. In 1988, 141 whales caught on the east coast of the U.S. were taken by the foreign Atlantic

fishery, which forced it to be shut down.

Pollution

As with other marine mammals, pilot whales are susceptible to certain pollutants. Off the Faroes, France, the UK, and the eastern US, pilot whales were found to have been contaminated with high amounts of

DDT Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, commonly known as DDT, is a colorless, tasteless, and almost odorless crystalline chemical compound, an organochloride. Originally developed as an insecticide, it became infamous for its environmental impacts. ...

and PCB. Pollutants such as DDT and mercury can be passed from mothers to their babies during gestation and lactation. The Faroes whales have also been contaminated with

cadmium Cadmium is a chemical element with the symbol Cd and atomic number 48. This soft, silvery-white metal is chemically similar to the two other stable metals in group 12, zinc and mercury. Like zinc, it demonstrates oxidation state +2 in most of ...

and mercury. However, pilot whales from

and

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

were found to have had very low levels of DDT. Short-finned pilot whales off the west coast of the US have had high amounts of DDT and PCB in contrast to the low amounts found in whales from Japan and the Antilles.

Cuisine

Pilot

whale meat Whale meat, broadly speaking, may include all cetaceans ( whales, dolphins, porpoises) and all parts of the animal: muscle (meat), organs (offal), skin (muktuk), and fat (blubber). There is relatively little demand for whale meat, compared to ...

is available for consumption in very few areas of

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, mainly along the central Pacific coast, and also in other areas of the world, such as the Faroe Islands. The meat is high in protein (higher than beef) and low in fat. Because a whale's fat is contained in the layer of

blubber Blubber is a thick layer of vascularized adipose tissue under the skin of all cetaceans, pinnipeds, penguins, and sirenians. Description Lipid-rich, collagen fiber-laced blubber comprises the hypodermis and covers the whole body, except for ...

beneath the skin, and the muscle is high in myoglobin, the meat is a dark shade of red. In Japan, where pilot whale meat can be found in certain restaurants and ''

izakaya An () is a type of informal Japanese Bar (establishment), bar that serves alcoholic drinks and snacks. are casual places for after-work drinking, similar to a pub, a Spanish tapas bar, or an American saloon or tavern. Etymology The word e ...

s'', the meat is sometimes served raw, as ''

sashimi is a Japanese delicacy consisting of fresh raw fish or meat sliced into thin pieces and often eaten with soy sauce. Origin The word ''sashimi'' means "pierced body", i.e. "刺身" = ''sashimi'', where 刺し = ''sashi'' (pierced, stuck) ...

'', but just as often pilot whale steaks are marinated, cut into small chunks, and grilled. When grilled, the meat is slightly flaky and quite flavorful, somewhat gamey, though similar to a quality cut of

beef Beef is the culinary name for meat from cattle (''Bos taurus''). In prehistoric times, humankind hunted aurochs and later domesticated them. Since that time, numerous breeds of cattle have been bred specifically for the quality or quantity ...

, with distinct yet subtle undertones recalling its marine origin. In both Japan and the Faroe Islands, the meat is contaminated with mercury and cadmium, causing a health risk for those who frequently eat it, especially children and pregnant women. In November 2008, an article in ''

New Scientist ''New Scientist'' is a magazine covering all aspects of science and technology. Based in London, it publishes weekly English-language editions in the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia. An editorially separate organisation publishe ...

'' reported that research done on the Faroe Islands resulted in two chief medical officers recommending against the consumption of pilot whale meat, considering it to be too toxic. In 2008, the local authorities recommended that pilot whale meat should no longer be eaten due to the contamination. This has resulted in reduced consumption, according to a senior Faroese health official.

Captivity

Pilot whales, mostly short-finned pilot whales, have been kept in captivity in various marine parks, arguably starting in the late 1940s. Since 1973, some long-finned pilot whales from New England waters were taken and temporarily kept in captivity. Short-finned pilot whales off southern California, Hawaii and Japan have been kept in

aquarium An aquarium (plural: ''aquariums'' or ''aquaria'') is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aq ...

s and

oceanarium An oceanarium can be either a marine mammal park, such as Marineland of Canada, or a large-scale aquarium, such as the Lisbon Oceanarium, presenting an ocean habitat with marine animals, especially large ocean dwellers such as sharks. First m ...

s. Several pilot whales from southern California and Hawaii were taken into captivity during the 1960s and early 1970s, two of which were placed at

SeaWorld San Diego SeaWorld San Diego is an animal theme park, oceanarium, outside aquarium and marine mammal park, in San Diego, California, United States, inside Mission Bay Park. It is owned and operated by SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment. SeaWorld San Dieg ...

. During the 1970s and early 1980s, six pilot whales were captured alive by drive hunts and taken for public display. Pilot whales have historically had low survival rates in captivity, with the average annual survival being 0.51 years during the mid-1960s to early 1970s. There have been a few exceptions to the rule. Bubbles, a female short-finned pilot whale, who was displayed in Marineland of the Pacific and eventually at Sea World California, lived to be somewhere in her 50s when she eventually died on 12 June 2016. In 1968, a pilot whale was captured, given the name Morgan, and trained by the U.S. Navy's Deep Ops to retrieve deeper-attached objects from the ocean floor. He dove a record depth of 1654 feet and was used for training until 1971.

Films

There are two documentaries entirely dedicated to the pilot whales. * Full-length ''Cheetahs of the deep'' (49’, 2014, directed by Rafa Herrero Massieu) — tells about the way of life, features of social interaction, the subtleties of hunting, games and breeding on the example of a group of non-migrating short-finned pilot whales living between the Islands of Tenerife and

La Gomera La Gomera () is one of Spain's Canary Islands, located in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Africa. With an area of , it is the third smallest of the eight main islands of this archipelago. It belongs to the province of Santa Cruz de Ten ...

of the Canary archipelago. A curious feature of the film is that: “all marine mammals filmed in

freediving Freediving, free-diving, free diving, breath-hold diving, or skin diving is a form of underwater diving that relies on breath-holding until resurfacing rather than the use of breathing apparatus such as scuba gear. Besides the limits of breath-h ...

”. * Short film '' My Pilot, Whale'' (28’, 2014, directed by Alexander and Nicole Gratovsky) demonstrates the possibility of interaction between humans and free-living pilot whales, offering the viewer a number of philosophical questions related to cetaceans: about their attitude to the world, what we have in common, what we — humans — can learn from them, and so on. The film has received a number awards of international film festivals.

References

External links

Pilot Whales.org

{{Authority control Oceanic dolphins Cosmopolitan mammals Animals that use echolocation Taxa named by René Lesson

Naming

Taxonomy and evolution

Description

Distribution and habitat

Behavior and life history

Foraging and parasites

Social structure

Reproduction and lifecycle

Vocalizations

Stranding

Human interaction

Hunting

Pollution

Cuisine

Captivity

Films

See also

References

External links