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Globicephala macrorhynchus (short-finned pilot whale)

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Image credit: Garth Mix, GMIX Designs

Taxonomy & Nomenclature
Scientific Name Globicephala macrorhynchus
Taxonomic Rank Species
Original Description Gray, 1846Gray, 1848
Scientific Synonyms (since 1950)
Common Name
short-finned pilot whale
All Common Names English: short-finned pilot whale
Taxonomic Parents Kingdom: Animalia
  Phylum: Chordata
    Subphylum: Vertebrata
      Class: Mammalia
        Subclass: Theria
          Infraclass: Eutheria
            Order: Cetacea
              Suborder: Odontoceti
                Family: Delphinidae
                  Genus: Globicephala
Taxonomic Children
Taxonomic # 180466
Taxonomic data is courtesy of the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS)

Physical Description / Field Identification

Pilot whales are large, with bulbous heads, dramatically upsloping mouthlines, and extremely short or non-existent beaks. The shape of the head varies significantly with age and sex, becoming more globose in adult males. The dorsal fin, which is situated about 1/3 of the way back from the head, is low and falcate, with a very wide base (varying with age and sex). The flippers are long and sickle-shaped, up to 1/6 of the body length. There are 7-9 short, sharply pointed teeth in each tooth row.

Pilot whales are about 1.4 m long at birth. Adults reach 5.5 m (females) and 6.1 m (males). Males may weigh nearly 3,600 kg. Adult males are significantly larger than females, with large, sometimes squarish foreheads that may overhang the snout, very hooked dorsal fins with thickened leading edges, and deepened tail stocks with post-anal keels.

Except for a light gray, anchor-shaped patch on the chest, a gray post-dorsal fin saddle, and a pair of roughly parallel bands high on the back that sometimes end as a light streak or teardrop above each eye, pilot whales are black to dark brownish-gray. This is the reason for one of their other common names, blackfish (the term blackfish is variously used, usually by fishermen, to refer to killer, false killer, pygmy killer, pilot, and melon-headed whales).


Can be Confused With

In and near the areas of overlap, the short-finned pilot whale is difficult to distinguish from its cogener, G. melas. Fin length can help determine species, but visibility may prevent identification based on this characteristic. Most sightings can be tentatively assigned to species based on the area. Other smaller blackfish, such as false killer whales, and less commonly, pygmy killer and melon-headed whales, may be confused with pilot whales at a distance. Dorsal fin shape is the best clue to distinguishing pilot whales from these species.


Distribution

Range:Tropical

The short-finned pilot whale is found in most of the tropical and warmer temperate areas of the world’s oceans, with the exception of the Mediterranean Sea. They rarely venture north of 50°N or 40°S.

North Atlantic– In the western North Atlantic, the short-finned pilot whale ranges from Cape Hatteras (although sightings further north do occur in warmer months) into the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico. In the eastern North Atlantic, short-finned pilot whales range from the coast of France in the north to Madeira and the coast of Northwestern Africa.

North Pacific – In the western North Pacific, short-finned pilot whales are found as far north as Japan, although in this area the northern and southern populations differ markedly in coloration, size, body shape, and cranial features; resulting in debate regarding their taxonomic status. In the eastern North Pacific, the short-finned pilot whale is commonly found from the coast of central California (including an apparently resident population near Catalina Island) to Hawaiian waters and the eastern tropical Pacific. On rare occasions, the short-finned pilot whale may be seen in waters as far north as Vancouver Island and Alaska.

Southern Oceans– Distribution of the short-finned pilot whale in the Southern Hemisphere is poorly known, but they have been found in Sao Paulo, Cape Province, Western Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand, and the Indian Ocean.

Links to Distribution Map at Sea Around Us Project

Map of OBIS-SEAMAP Data Points

Existing observations across multiple datasets within OBIS-SEAMAP are indicated with red points.
Species distributions (pink background polygon if present) were digitized by Kristin Kaschner as part of the Sea Around Us Project predominantly from Jefferson et al (1993).

Reference
Jefferson, T.A., S. Leatherwood, and M.A. Webber. 1993. FAO species identification guide. Marine mammals of the world. Rome, FAO. 1993.320. p. 587 figs.

Ecology and Behavior

Habit:Coastal, pelagic

In the eastern Pacific, pilot whales are commonly associated with other species (such as bottlenose, Pacific white-sided, common, and Risso's dolphins, and sperm whales). Pods of up to several hundred short-finned pilot whales are seen, appearing to live in relatively stable female-based groups. Short-finned pilot whales are among the species of cetaceans that most frequently mass-strand, perhaps due to their strong social bonds.

Females become post-reproductive at around 40 years, but may continue to suckle young for up to 15 additional years, suggesting a complex social structure in which older females may give their own or related calves a "reproductive edge" through prolonged suckling. Calving peaks occur in spring and fall in the Southern Hemisphere, and in fall and winter in the Northern Hemisphere.


Feeding and Prey

Broad diet dominated by:Squid>fish

Squid are the preferred prey of short-finned pilot whales, but they also take fish. Groups of short-finned pilot whales travel abreast in long lines when feeding. The squid genus Loligo is a particularly important prey item for this species.

Feeding mode:Sucking

The large tongue of the short-finned pilot whale is depressed and retracted during feeding, causing negative intraoral pressure during capture. They show the tooth reduction typical of other squid-eating cetaceans.

Prey species include:

Cephalopods:Todarodes sagittatus, Cranchia sp., Megalocranchia sp.., Loligo opalescens, Histioteuthis dofleini, Histioteuthis heteropsis, Octopoteuthis deletron, Gonatus sp., Onychoteuthis borealijaponica, Moroteuthis robusta


Threats and Status

Main threats include:

Harvest

Fisheries bycatch

Entanglement in debris/fishing gear

Noise pollution

Heavy metal and organochlorine pollution

Conservation Status:The short-finned pilot whale is listed as “Lower Risk, Conservation Dependent” by the IUCN, and in the U.S. the California-Oregon-Washington stock is considered a strategic stock; in that incidental take in fisheries has exceeded Potential Biological Removal in recent years. Short-finned pilot whales have been killed directly in drive fisheries in Japan and in harpoon fisheries in the Caribbean and Indonesia. This species has been taken as by-catch in several fisheries in the North Pacific, including driftnet fisheries for swordfish and sharks and the squid purse seine fishery that operates off the California coast.

For current information on the conservation status of this species, please consult the following websites.


References

Berhard, H.J., and S.B. Reilly. 1999. Pilot whales Globicephala Lesson, 1828. Pp. 245-280 in S. H. Ridgway and R. Harrison, eds. Handbook of marine mammals, Vol. 6 The second book of dolphins and the porpoises. Academic Press.

Kasuya, T. 1992. Pilot whales in the North Pacific. IBI Reports 3:45-46.

Kasuya, T., and H. Marsh. 1984. Life history and reproductive biology of the short-finned pilot whale, Globicephala macrorhynchus, off the coast of Japan. Reports of the International Whaling Commission Special Issue 6:259-310.

Olson, P.A. AND S.B. Reilly. 2002. Pilot whales Globicephala melas and G. macrorhynchus. Pp. 898-903 in W. F. Perrin, B. Würsig and J. G. M. Thewissen, eds. Encyclopedia of marine mammals. Academic Press.

Reilly, S.B., AND S.H. Shane. 1986. Pilot whale. Pp. 132-139 in D. Haley, ed. Marine mammals of the eastern North Pacific and Arctic waters. Pacific Search Press.

Stacey, P.J., AND R.W. Baird. 1993. Status of the short-finned pilot whale, Globicephala macrorhynchus, in Canada. Canadian Field-Naturalist 107:481-489.

Relevant OBIS-SEAMAP Datasets (# sets: 28)
2008 UNCW Right Whale Aerial Surveys
Bahamas Marine Mammal Research Organisation On-transect Sightings
Bahamas Marine Mammal Research Organisation Opportunistic Sightings
Bahamas Marine Mammal Research Organisation Strandings
Cetacean distribution around Mayotte Island
Indian Ocean Marine Bird and Mammal Survey, 2004
Mingan Island Cetacean Study 84-07
Summer 2004 and Winter 2005 Cape Hatteras
SWFSC Cetacean Acoustic Detection and Dive Interval Studies (1601)
SWFSC Cetacean Sightings during a Marine Mammal Survey in the Eastern Tropical Pacific (1468)
SWFSC Cetacean Sightings during a Marine Mammal Survey in the Eastern Tropical Pacific (1508)
SWFSC Cetacean Sightings during a Marine Mammal Survey in the Eastern Tropical Pacific (1509)
SWFSC Marine Mammal Survey in the Eastern Tropical Pacific (1467)
SWFSC Marine Mammal Survey of the Eastern Tropical Pacific (1080)
SWFSC Marine Mammal Survey of the Eastern Tropical Pacific (1081)
SWFSC Marine Mammal Survey of the Eastern Tropical Pacific (1164)
SWFSC Marine Mammal Survey of the Eastern Tropical Pacific (1165)
SWFSC Marine Mammal Survey of the Eastern Tropical Pacific (1267)
SWFSC Marine Mammal Survey of the Eastern Tropical Pacific (1268)
SWFSC Marine Mammal Survey of the Eastern Tropical Pacific (1369)
SWFSC Marine Mammal Survey of the Eastern Tropical Pacific (1370)
SWFSC Marine Mammal Survey of the Eastern Tropical Pacific (989)
SWFSC Marine Mammal Survey of the Eastern Tropical Pacific (990)
SWFSC Oregon, California and Washington Line-Transect Experiment (Orcawale) (1604)
UK Royal Navy Marine Mammal Observations
UNCW Aerial Surveys for monitoring of proposed Oslow Bay USWTR site - Right side -
UNCW Marine Mammal Aerial Surveys 2006-2007
UNCW Right Whale Aerial Survey 05-06

To get custom statistics or download the results as a CSV file, go to Observation Query & Summary
 
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