Pilot whales are primarily squid eaters but will feed on fish as well. This apparent lower diving capability has also been observed in long-finned pilot whales.
It is possible that if pilot whales have a higher metabolic rate than other deep diving mammals to enable sprinting, this would be a factor influencing the relatively short diving period of pilot whales compared to other similarly sized marine mammals. This is unusual considering deep diving breath holding animals would be expected to swim slowly and steadily to conserve oxygen. This involves an energetic burst of high-speed swimming near the deep part of the dive and is usually followed by one or two buzzes which may indicate attempts to capture prey. finned pilot whales foraging in the same depth range as sperm whales and beaked whales perform the more energetic hunting tactics in comparison. When making deep dives, pilot whales often make fast sprints to catch fast moving prey like squid. Shallow dives tend to take place during the day while deeper ones take place at night. They are capable of diving to depths of 2,000 feet, but most dives are to a depth of 100-200 feet. Pilot whales generally take several breaths before diving for a few minutes, feeding dives may last over ten minutes. The flippers are long, and sickle shaped, and the tail stock is flattened from side to side and very deep. The body shape of a pilot whale is considerably more robust than most dolphins with a distinctive large, bulbous head male long finned pilot whales develop more bulbous heads than females. The dorsal fin is set forward on the back and sweeps backwards. Pilot whales are predominantly dark grey, brown, or black, but have some light areas such as a grey saddle pitch behind the dorsal fins. There are two species of pilot whales, long finned and short finned they are in the suborder of the Odontoceti the same as the killer whale which means they have teeth. Adult males reach a length 20 feet and can weigh up to 3 tons, adult females grow to 16 feet and weigh 1 ½ tons. The pilot whale is a member of the dolphin family and is second only to the orca whale in size males are much larger than females.
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