December 2003 LONG-FINNED PILOT WHALE (Globicephala melas): Western North Atlantic Stock

• Main Authors: Stock Definition, Geographic Range
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Payne; North Atlantic
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.228.5274; http://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/nefsc/publications/tm/tm182/pdfs/50.pdf

There are two species of pilot whales in the Western Atlantic — the Atlantic or long-finned pilot whale, Globicephala melas, and the short-finned pilot whale, G. macrorhynchus. The distribution of long-finned pilot whales, a northern species, overlaps with that of the short-finned pilot whales, a predominantly southern species, between 35°30'N to 38°00'N (Leatherwood et al. 1976). Although long-finned pilot whales are most likely the species bycaught in the waters north of Delaware Bay, many of the pilot whale takes are not identified to species and bycatch does occur in the overlap area. In this summary, therefore, long-finned pilot whales (Globicephala melas) and unidentified pilot whales (Globicephala sp.) are considered together. Pilot whales (Globicephala sp.) are distributed principally along the continental shelf edge in the winter and early spring off the northeast USA coast, (CETAP 1982; Payne and Heinemann 1993; Abend and Smith 1999). In late spring, pilot whales move onto Georges Bank and into the Gulf of Maine and more northern waters, and remain in these areas through late autumn (CETAP 1982; Payne and Heinemann 1993). In general, pilot whales occupy areas of high relief or submerged banks. They are also associated with the Gulf Stream north wall and thermal fronts along the continental shelf edge (Waring et al. 1992; NMFS unpublished data). The long-finned pilot whale is distributed