US EditionMystery of How Much Squid Short-Finned Pilot Whales Eat Resolved
Study reveals each whale eats up to 200 squid daily, with the Hawaiian population consuming about 88,000 tonnes annually, supporting conservation planning.
- William Gough and collaborators published findings Thursday showing a single short-finned pilot whale can consume up to 200 squid daily in the Journal of Experimental Biology.
- Initially, researchers tracking false killer whales repeatedly encountered large short-finned pilot whale pods, prompting a new study as Hawaii's population is classed as data deficient by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
- Using suction-cup tags and drones, the team recorded eight tagged short-finned pilot whales diving as many as 39 times daily, consuming roughly four squid per dive with each squid providing 560,000 kilojoules.
- These consumption estimates provide data for local conservation and management, as roughly 8,000 short-finned pilot whales in Hawaiian waters are estimated to consume about 88,000 tonnes of squid annually, which researchers say current stocks can support.
- Researchers plan to apply their comparative analytical framework to other cetaceans from harbor porpoises to blue whales, noting ongoing human-made threats such as vessel strikes and fishing gear entanglement.
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Study finds whales can eat more than 200 squid a day
Short-finned pilot whales consume between 82 and 202 of the marine molluscs each every day off the coast of Hawai’i.
Mystery of how much squid short-finned pilot whales eat resolved
How much squid do short-finned pilot whales (Globicephala macrorhynchus) off the coast of Hawai'i need to consume each day to survive and are there sufficient squid to sustain the population? Knowing these basic facts is essential in the fight to protect populations.
Friday Squid Blogging: Pilot Whales Eat a Lot of Squid - Schneier on Security
Short-finned pilot wales (Globicephala macrorhynchus) eat at lot of squid: To figure out a short-finned pilot whale’s caloric intake, Gough says, the team had to combine data from a variety of sources, including movement data from short-lasting tags, daily feeding rates from satellite tags, body measurements collected via aerial drones, and sifting through the stomachs of unfortunate whales that ended up stranded on land. Once the team pulled al…
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