michaelNov 17

13-Nov-2025
Mystery of how much squid short-finned pilot #whales eat resolved
There’s plenty more #squid in the sea for Hawaiian short-finned #pilotWhales

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1104709

#science #ecology #FoodWeb #MarineBiology #cetaceans

Mystery of how much squid short-finned pilot whales eat resolved

How much food an animal needs to consume on a daily basis is a crucial part of the jigsaw of life and now an international team of researchers reveal in Journal of Experimental Biology that individual short-finned pilot whales off Hawai’i consume between 82 and 202 squid per day, adding up to 88,000 tonnes of squid per year for the Hawaiian population, which, fortunately, is a drop in the ocean for the local squid population.

EurekAlert!
Show threadanna_lillith 🇺🇦🌱🐖Sep 13, 2025

Here is the full list of hunts that we are aware of in the #FaroeIslands this summer to date (the figures are estimates as official figures are not issued yet), noting that #PilotWhales are also a #dolphin species:

June 12, 2025, #Leynar – over 246 #whales (may be as high as 296)
July 5, 2025 – 49 pilot whales killed in #Bø
July 20, 2025 – 116 pilot whales killed in #Tjørnuvík
Aug. 25, 2025 – 50 Atlantic white-sided dolphins, #Skálafjørður

2/6

Sea ShepherdJun 4, 2025
Every year, entire pods of #dolphins and #pilotwhales are killed in one of the most violent hunts in Europe, and most people still have no idea.

We're back in the #FaroeIslands, not just to witness it, but to connect, to document, and to shine a light on what’s still happening and why it must end.

👉 Follow our crew on the ground
📢 Share this to raise awareness
🛑 Help us #stopthegrind: stopthegrind.org
John     Dec 2, 2024

#ProjectJonah  today responded to a mass #stranding of #pilotwhales in Golden Bay.

Local medics worked alongside the community and Department of Conservation rangers.

#whales #MassStranding #Aotearoa

Keira ReynoldsNov 13, 2024
Pilot whale. Tenerife, 14 June 2024. #pilotwhales #tenerife #canarias
anna_lillith 🇺🇦🌱🐖Sep 17, 2024

🚨This is happening right now in #Klaksvík. 🚨

Why do the #Faroese feel the need to interfere with every single #pod of #PilotWhales that pass by, even when their freezers are already full, according to their own reports? It seems like they have an obsession with #dolphins. No other country monitors and tags every pod like this—it’s unnecessary.

While we support scientific research and the pursuit of knowledge, we cannot endorse this #brutal and invasive method of handling pilot whales.

1/2

Lukas VFN 🇪🇺Mar 22, 2024

Clues for the #evolution of #menopause in whales — and humans?
https://www.npr.org/2024/03/22/1198909539/menopause-humans-whales-evolution

The evolution of menopause in #ToothedWhales https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07159-9

"menopause is something of an evolutionary blip. We are one of the few #animals to experience it... There are five species of toothed #whales that undergo menopause — short-finned #PilotWhales, #FalseKillerWhales, #KillerWhales, #narwhals and #belugas — making it the type of animal that is known to have evolved menopause most frequently."

GeologistsCatDec 14, 2023

Yesterday during the boat #hedgewatch we saw this beautiful #pilotwhales😻 They are we learned yesterday #dolphins🙀😹. Anyway we were so happy to see this great animals 😻

#whale #travel #CanaryIslands #grindwal #whalewatching

Mojo ♻️Jul 28, 2023

They squeaked as they died: I tried to help those baby #pilotwhales – but nothing could be done.
"It was the little cries of the dying young ones that hit me hardest.
The sound is hard to describe – like a high-pitched squeak, a forlorn whistle amid the noise of breaking waves."
#WhaleRescue

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jul/27/wa-pilot-whale-stranding-euthanised-cheynes-beach-volunteer

They squeaked as they died: I tried to help those baby pilot whales – but nothing could be done

Reporter Narelle Towie found herself joining volunteers and marine officials trying to save a pod stranded on Cheynes beach in Western Australia

The Guardian
Mojo ♻️Jul 26, 2023

Volunteers are working frantically on a second day to save dozens of #pilotwhales that have stranded themselves on a beach in #WesternAustralia, but more than 50 have already died #wildlife #whales

https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/volunteers-working-save-100-beached-whales-australia-half-101658160

Volunteers working to save nearly 100 beached whales in Australia, but more than half have died

Volunteers are working frantically on a second day to save dozens of pilot whales that have stranded themselves on a beach in Western Australia, but more than 50 have already died

ABC News