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Long - Finned Pilot Whales

(Globiceephala Melas)

T.Heart ©

Occasional visitors to the Channel Island Waters, Pilot Whales can be inquisitive but are not a true "bowrider" often being indifferent to boats.

Like Orca's, Pilot Whales are actually members of the dolphin family. (delphinidae)

Pilot whales are black with a very distinct broad based dorsal fin placed forward of the mid-body.  They have a grey saddle behind the dorsal fin, although this is not always apparent.  Obvious melon (forehead) and long, pointed flippers which can measure up to 27% of the total body length.  The flippers are set at a distinct angle.  There is a white band on the underside from flippers to the genital slit.

T.Rive© (Guernsey)

Pilot Whales often stay together in close - knit groups. Female Pilot Whales mature at 6 years of age and a length of about 3.5 m. Males mature much later when 12 years old and 5 meters in length. Females give birth to single calves. The pregnancy last for 16 months and the calves are weaned at 20 months of age. Calves weigh just over 200lbs at birth. Females do not give birth after the age of 35 years but have been known to suckle infants until the age of 49 years.

T.Rive ©Guernsey)

Oceanic distribution, polar to warm temperate seas in the north Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean sea. Circumglobal in the southern hemisphere.  Extinct in the North Pacific Ocean.

Length: 5.6 metres alsno upto 6.7 metres

Diet: squid.

Weight:  2 tonnes, males up to 3 tonnes.

Sources:

Sealife - A Complete Guide to the Marine Environment, edited by G Waller, principal contributors M Dando and M Burchett

Ocean Guides - Whale and Dolphins of the European Atlantic by G Cresswell and Dylan Walker

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