Daniela Maldini, Ph.D.Daniela Maldini, Ph.D.

Director of ResearchDirector of Research

Pacific Whale FoundationPacific Whale Foundation

False killer whalePseudorca crassidens

Length: 11.5 – 19.5 ft (females up to 15 ft)Weight: avg. 1,500 lbGestation: 14-16 monthsLactation: 1.5-2 yearsCalving intervals: 7 yrsLife span: male 58 yrs, female 63 yrs

Why is it called False Killer Whale?

7U-12L

10U-12L

Close Relatives in HawaiiPygmy Killer Whales (Feresa attenuata)Melon Headed Whales (Peponocephala elctra)

Pygmy killer whale

Melon-headed whale

9 ft – 365 lbs

8 ft – 350 lbs

Worldwide DistributionFalse Killer Whales

Hawaiian Populations•“Pelagic” – offshore•“Insular” – island-associated

•estimated at only 123 animals• effective population size only is 46

• Insular population declined from 1989 to 2010• from 3rd common species in Hawaii• to 9th common species in Hawaii

Aerial survey data from Dr. Joe Mobley, UH

Movements and Habitat Use

Baird et al. 2010. Movements and habitat use of satellite-tagged false killer whales around the main Hawaiian Islands. Endangered Species Research 10: 107-121.

• Applied satellite tags to 3 groups of insular and one group (1 ind.) of pelagic Pseudoorca;

• Groups from insular population regularly moved between leeward and windward side of the islands;

• Some individuals moved extensively and rapidly among islands;• Others remained associated with the island of Hawaii for longer periods;• Individuals within groups associated and dissassociated over periods of days

sometimes moving >100km apart;• The pelagic individual came within 62km of land (inshore of the longline fishery

exclusion boundary);• Insular groups stayed <100km from shore.

• Distance from shore cannot be used as a strict boundary between populations• Individuals from insular population may overlap with longline fisheries

Social Structure

Food Sharing

Mass Strandings

Threats

•Hunted in West Indies and Indonesia •Some killed every year in Japan –

•THE COVE – Iki Island•900 killed between 1965-1990

•Long-line fisheries in Hawaii•Persistent organic pollutants (e.g. PCBs, PBDEs)•Reduction in prey size•Deliberate shooting

•Hawaii-based long-line fishery id the only fishery with an observer program•20% coverge in the deep-set tuna fishery

•False killer whale bycatch exceeded “sustainable levels” since at least 1999•Jan 2010- NMFS formed a Take Reduction Team

•Draft of Take Reduction Plan•Mandatory Circle Hooks•Weak Hooks•Year-round closure of area around main Hawaiian Islands

Measures Being ConsideredIn Hawaii

PACIFIC WHALE FOUNDATIONPACIFIC WHALE FOUNDATION

Do not let our Kama’aina whale fade into oblivion!

dmaldini@PacificWhale.org