Cetacean dive depths are sometimes inferred from knowledge of the habits of their prey. For false killer whales an early published report suggested they might dive to 500 m, based upon general feeding habits. However, dive depths have not previously been documented for this species. In Hawaiian waters, this species has been observed feeding on fish such as mahimahi and yellowfin tuna, which spend most of their time in surface waters. We hypothesize that such observations are biased towards surface-oriented prey, and false killer whales are also likely feeding at depth.
Citation:
Ligon, A.D., and R.W. Baird. 2001. Diving Behavior of False Killer Whales off Maui and Lāna’i, Hawai’i. in: Abstracts Fourteenth Biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals, Vancouver, British Columbia. 28 November – 3 December 2001. Society for Marine Mammalogy, Lawrence, KS.
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