Watch: Group of 70 short-finned pilot whales caught on video off Southern California coast
Short-finned pilot whales are one of two pilot whale species, and they are found on both the East and West Coasts, around Hawaii and in waters near Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Large pod of short-finned pilot whales caught on video off Southern California
Short-finned pilot whales are one of two pilot whale species. On Tuesday, Davey’s Locker and Newport Landing Whale Watching crews saw 70 short-finned pilot whales swimming off the coast of Newport Beach, California.
NEWPORT BEACH, Calif.– A pod of about 70 short-finned whales was seen off the coast of Newport Beach, California, on Tuesday.
Short-finned pilot whales are one of two pilot whale species, and they are found on both the East and West Coasts, around Hawaii and in waters near Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, according to NOAA Fisheries.
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While whale watching on Tuesday, a group with Davey’s Locker and Newport Landing Whale Watching was lucky enough to witness a large pod of short-finned pilot whales.
Three short-finned pilot whales surface for air in the Pacific. (Patrick Coyne via Storyful / FOX Weather)
Short-finned pilot whales are highly social animals, with female-based pods of between 15 and 30 animals, composed of close family relatives, NOAA Fisheries said.
While 70 may seem like a lot of whales in one place, NOAA Fisheries said pods of several hundred short-finned pilot whales have been sighted in the past.
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Video from the whale-watching cruise shows a group of the whales surfacing several times before returning to the bright blue Pacific waters.
The whales travel in large groups. (Patrick Coyne via Storyful / FOX Weather)
"For the first time since 2015, our whale watching crews encountered a pod of approximately 70 short-finned pilot whales just five miles off Newport Beach!" Jessica Rodriguez, education manager for Davey’s Locker and Newport Landing Whale Watching, wrote in a news release.
NOAA Fisheries said these whales are commonly found along the coast close to the continental shelf, but some populations have been found to extend into deep, open ocean environments, such as in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean.
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They eat mostly squid and have 7 to 9 short, sharply pointed teeth in each tooth row.
Short-finned pilot whales have bulbous heads. (Patrick Coyne via Storyful / FOX Weather)
Short-finned pilot whales have large bulbous heads and black to dark grayish-brown bodies.
NOAA Fisheries said it's estimated that around 800 short-finned pilot whales exist on the West Coast today.