Pilot Whale
Pilot Whales are found throughout the world’s oceans, preferring deeper waters to shallow coastlines. Although they have been widely hunted in the past, they still seem o be fairly common. Their current population is unknown.
Like their Killer Whale, the Pilot Whale is more closely related to the dolphins than to other kinds of whales. But Pilot Whales don’t entirely resemble their Killer Whale cousins. They are slightly smaller, seldom growing longer than 21 feet (6.5 meters) or weighing more than 4 tons (4,064 kilograms). A Pilot Whale has a more bulbous head and thicker tail than does a Killer, and a Pilot lacks the Killer’s distinctive white markings on its body. Scientists have identified two different kinds of Pilor Whales, which have different flipper lengths and numbers of teeth.
Pilot Whales are somewhat less active than Killer Whales. They rarely breach, and entire pods are often seen logging for periods of time. Still, Pilot Whales are friendly, and will often let boats get very close to them. The Pilot Whale’s fiet is made mostly of squid and small fish; on rare occasions, a pod of Pilots ill attack and eat a dolphin.
Did you know that a Pilot Whale blows moist air more than 39 inches (1 meter) into the air when it surfaces to breathe? Although all whales blow when they breathe, each whale species does it in a different way. Scientists can often tell one kind of whale from another merely by watching the shape and size of the blow.