Two friends from Sant Lluis who had gone fishing in a small boat last week met with a group of pilot whales. The video is spectacular.
Pilot whales are cetaceans belonging to the genus
Globicephala. The two extant species are the
long-finned pilot whale (
G. melas) and the
short-finned pilot whale (
G. macrorhynchus).
The size and weight depend on the species, as long-finned pilot whales are generally larger than short-finned pilot whales.Their lifespans are about 45 years in males and 60 years in females for both species. Both species exhibit sexual dismorphism. Adult long-finned pilot whales reach a body length of approximately 6.5 m, with males being 1 m longer than females. Their body mass reaches up to 1,300 kg in females and up to 2,300 kg in males.
For short-finned pilot whales, adult females reach a body length of
about 5.5 m, while males reach 7.2 m and may weigh up to 3,200 kg.
Pilot whales can be found in oceans nearly worldwide, but data about current population sizes is deficient.They are not rare in the Menorca but is very unusual to see them so close to the coast.
