Rare Sighting Of Tropical False Killer Whales Off Orange County Coast

They won’t be the first species that pops in your head when you consider dolphins, but they want our assist urgently. The populations seem to be pretty spread out, and are often found in deeper seas which signifies that we don’t know an awful lot about them. But there’s one inhabitants, who stay in shallower waters off Hawaii, that is well–studied, and a lot of what we do know comes from this group. False killer whales are so sociable they’ve even been identified to supply meals to human divers.

As such, the species is designated as Data Deficient on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species2. The species just isn’t listed on both Appendix of the Convention on Migratory Species . There is serious concern, concerning the false killer whale population around the principle Hawaiian islands, which was thought to number between 150 and 200 individuals in 2012, demonstrating a decline since ,17. As such, this inhabitants is designated as Endangered beneath the US Endangered Species Act.

Population

There is little documentation of predators taking false killer whales, although a killer whale attack was observed in New Zealand. At least two false killer whales in Hawaii carry scars from giant shark bites, indicating that enormous sharks goal the species from time to time1,9. The species has been concerned in several mass strandings throughout its range13-15. Captivity – false killer whales are held in tanks and face the risk of being snatched from their households to be offered to the entertainment business. You’ll recognise these dolphins pretty simply due to their lengthy, slender, black or darkish grey bodies, a slim pointed head with no beak and a prominent bulbous brow, or ‘melon’. They have lengthy, slim S-shaped flippers that make them look as though they have elbows and a tall, tapered dorsal fin.

Playful and social, these dolphins get pleasure from hanging out with different species, together with bottlenose dolphins. They are vulnerable to beaching in giant teams – perhaps as a result of the noise we humans make underwater messes with their navigation. Sound travels much farther in water than mild, and cetaceans generally use sound rather than vision to communicate with one another and find food. Just as cetaceans hear for one another and for their prey, we can hearken to their sounds to find groups of whales and dolphins. False killer whales can dive for up to 18 minutes and swim at high speeds to seize prey at depths of 300 to 500 meters.

The Weather Channel
Tips On How To Protect Yourself & Others