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Short-finned pilot whale
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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 (Delphinidae).
It has a worldwide distribution with a global population of about 700,000, and there may be 3 or 4 distinct populations—two in the Pacific and one in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. Its range is moving northward due to global warming. In the Pacific, males average 4–6 m (13–20 ft) and females 3–5 m (9.8–16.4 ft). It generally has a stocky build with black to dark gray or brown skin, and can be distinguished from its counterpart by shorter flippers, fewer teeth, and a shorter beak. It is thought to pursue fast-moving squid typically at a depth of 700 m (2,300 ft), but the maximum recorded depth is 1,018 m (3,340 ft).
The short-finned pilot whale has been reported as being highly playful and social. It typically travels in pods of 10–30 members, usually family, but has been observed moving in groups of several hundred. Like killer whales, it has a matrilineal social hierarchy with an elder female at the head and a sizable post-reproductive lifespan. It is polygynous; females often outnumber males 8:1 in a pod.
Pods are known to mass strand, possibly due to sheer accident, biosonars confused by geomagnetic anomalies, injury from loud military sonar, or disease. It was historically whaled, and is still whaled today by Japan and the Lesser Antilles, but it is protected by several international treaties.
The name "pilot whale" originated with an early theory that pods were "piloted" by a leader. Other common names include the "pothead whale" (after the bulbous melon), and "blackfish" (a catch-all term used to designate numerous species of small, dark-colored toothed whales, including the pygmy sperm whale and false killer whale).
Worldwide, the diversity of mitochondrial DNA in short-finned pilot whales is considered to be low relative to other species with global distributions. A 2014 study found a unique haplotype in the Caribbean region.
The short-finned pilot whale is considered to be a single species with three divergent types: the Shiho, Naisa and Atlantic short-finned pilot whales.
The Shiho and Naisa forms are actually subspecies of the short-finned pilot whale, with the Shiho clade having diverged approximately 17.5 thousand years ago (kya), during the last glacial maximum. The exact boundaries of the two subspecies' ranges remain undefined due to lack of data. Based on current evidence, the Shiho subspecies is distributed in the eastern Pacific Ocean, and the Naisa subspecies encompasses the central/western Pacific and Indian Oceans, as well as the Atlantic Ocean. It appears as though the Pacific Ocean acts as a semi‐permeable barrier between the two subspecies, allowing occasional migration and mixing between the eastern and western Pacific Ocean, but keeping the populations separate enough to drive this differentiation.
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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 (Delphinidae).
It has a worldwide distribution with a global population of about 700,000, and there may be 3 or 4 distinct populations—two in the Pacific and one in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. Its range is moving northward due to global warming. In the Pacific, males average 4–6 m (13–20 ft) and females 3–5 m (9.8–16.4 ft). It generally has a stocky build with black to dark gray or brown skin, and can be distinguished from its counterpart by shorter flippers, fewer teeth, and a shorter beak. It is thought to pursue fast-moving squid typically at a depth of 700 m (2,300 ft), but the maximum recorded depth is 1,018 m (3,340 ft).
The short-finned pilot whale has been reported as being highly playful and social. It typically travels in pods of 10–30 members, usually family, but has been observed moving in groups of several hundred. Like killer whales, it has a matrilineal social hierarchy with an elder female at the head and a sizable post-reproductive lifespan. It is polygynous; females often outnumber males 8:1 in a pod.
Pods are known to mass strand, possibly due to sheer accident, biosonars confused by geomagnetic anomalies, injury from loud military sonar, or disease. It was historically whaled, and is still whaled today by Japan and the Lesser Antilles, but it is protected by several international treaties.
The name "pilot whale" originated with an early theory that pods were "piloted" by a leader. Other common names include the "pothead whale" (after the bulbous melon), and "blackfish" (a catch-all term used to designate numerous species of small, dark-colored toothed whales, including the pygmy sperm whale and false killer whale).
Worldwide, the diversity of mitochondrial DNA in short-finned pilot whales is considered to be low relative to other species with global distributions. A 2014 study found a unique haplotype in the Caribbean region.
The short-finned pilot whale is considered to be a single species with three divergent types: the Shiho, Naisa and Atlantic short-finned pilot whales.
The Shiho and Naisa forms are actually subspecies of the short-finned pilot whale, with the Shiho clade having diverged approximately 17.5 thousand years ago (kya), during the last glacial maximum. The exact boundaries of the two subspecies' ranges remain undefined due to lack of data. Based on current evidence, the Shiho subspecies is distributed in the eastern Pacific Ocean, and the Naisa subspecies encompasses the central/western Pacific and Indian Oceans, as well as the Atlantic Ocean. It appears as though the Pacific Ocean acts as a semi‐permeable barrier between the two subspecies, allowing occasional migration and mixing between the eastern and western Pacific Ocean, but keeping the populations separate enough to drive this differentiation.
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