Pygmy Killer Whales in Hawaii

Yesterday we encountered one of the rarest and least known species of oceanic dolphins, a group of 18 pygmy killer whales. They were a super friendly, interactive group of not always so friendly cetaceans. We usually see them just logging at the surface, shy and somewhat evasive if not approached with the utmost of caution.

Couldnt resist having crew hang on to the swim ladder for some underwater video. Lucky we have a catamaran and can shoot between the hulls as these pygmy killer whales were loving the bow, where everyone else onboard was cooing and swooning...

Sabre Mahaffy has matched some of the photos from yesterday's encounter back to individuals that have been documented off O'ahu before (including one individual seen previously on the same coastline in 2007, 2008, and 2009 by Tori Cullins of the Wild Dolphin Foundation), but we've had no matches of any individuals moving among islands.

Pygmy killer whales were first discovered based on two skulls, one described in 1827 and the other in 1874. The species was then effectively lost to science until 1952. The first six times live individuals were documented in the wild are worth reporting. The first live individual known to be of this species was harpooned, off Taiji, Japan, and brought in for processing. Although the individual was quickly flensed almost all the parts were obtained and the external appearance was recreated and described, along with the skeleton. The common name pygmy killer whale was first proposed based on this specimen by Yamada (1954). The second time this species was documented alive in the wild, off Senegal in 1958, the individual was captured and killed. The third known at-sea sighting was of a group of 14 individuals off Japan in 1963 - in this case the entire group was captured and taken into captivity, where all died within 22 days. The fourth recorded at-sea sighting of this species, also in 1963, ended a bit better, when only one individual in the group was captured and taken into captivity, this time in Hawai'i. The fifth record of a live animal was an individual captured and accidentally killed in a tuna purse seine off Costa Rica in 1967. In the spring of 1969 a live individual was harpooned off St. Vincent. Finally, later in 1969, a group was observed in the Indian Ocean with none of them being killed or captured.

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Pets & Animals

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