LONG-FINNED PILOT WHALE

Grindhvalur

Globicephala melas

Length: 4-8 metres

Weight:  2-5 tons

Life expectancy: about 40 years

Status: uncertain, at least several hundred thousand animals

• Members of the dolphin family
• Has two distinct populations; cool waters of the southern hemisphere and cool waters of the North Atlantic
• Feeds mainly on squid
• Social animals, living in large family pods of 10-50 members
• One of the species most often involved in mass strandings. Because of their social ties, when one pilot whale strands, the others follow and remain with it
• Still hunted in North Atlantic in the Faroe Islands
• Has a tall dorsal fin on the front half of its back.

Grindhvalur, grindwal, conducteur, grandval, pitkaeva pallopaavalas, globicefalo.