Short-finned Pilot Whale
Globicephala macrorhynchus
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Mammalia
- Order
- Cetartiodactyla
- Family
- Delphinidae
- Genus
- Globicephala
- Species
- Globicephala macrorhynchus
The short-finned pilot whale (Globicephala macrorhynchus) is a large member of the dolphin family with a bulbous, rounded head, a broad-based dorsal fin set well forward on the back, and a dark grey to black body. Males can reach about 7 m.
Pilot whales live in stable, matrilineal pods and dive deep at night to hunt squid, sometimes sprinting at depth to catch prey. During the day they are often seen resting at the surface in tight groups.
In the Philippines this species is regularly recorded over deep water, including the Bohol Sea, Tañon Strait and Sulu Sea, and it is one of the cetaceans most often involved in mass strandings in the country.