📸 PhotoPhoto: Curimedia | P H O T O G R A P H Y · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons Source
Short-finned Pilot Whale
Globicephala macrorhynchus (Short-finned Pilot Whale · コビレゴンドウ)
💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed
- 💡 Because of its strong schooling habit, groups are sometimes caught together as bycatch in stationary salmon nets.
- 💡 It has been heavily hunted in the northwestern Pacific and elsewhere for meat, oil, and bone, and is still taken in some regions.
- 💡 A male's body length of 6.1 m is about 1.4 times the length of a passenger car (about 4.5 m) (Comparison).
Reference standards: coach bus ~12 m, mid-size car ~4.9 m, compact car ~1 t, basketball hoop 3.05 m, credit card 8.56 cm.
Site-computed relative index from recorded values; not a formal scientific metric.
📖 1. Overview
The Short-finned Pilot Whale is a large dolphin of warm offshore waters that forms pods of up to hundreds of individuals and is almost never seen alone.
🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology
It has a rounded head with a bulbous forehead and almost no beak. A sickle-shaped dorsal fin sits about 1/3 of the way down its body, and its chest bears a gray anchor-shaped patch.
🔍 3. Ecology & Behavior
It feeds mainly on squid and also eats fish, diving deeper than 600 m at dawn and dusk. It forms stable female-centered pods, and females can continue nursing for about 15 years after their last birth.
🇰🇷 4. Connection to Korea
It is listed as 'Deulsoe-gorae' (Korean name) on the National List of Species of Korea and is recorded as occurring in the East Sea.
📚 Sources & References
- • IUCN Red List LC (2018) — https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/9249/50355227
- • IUCN Red List category LC — latest assessment at iucnredlist.org
- • mammaldiversity.org — 1006413
- • iucnredlist.org — 50355227
- • 국가생물종목록(국립생물자원관) ktsn 120000053380 — https://species.nibr.go.kr/home/mainHome.do?cont_link=009&subMenu=009002&contCd=009002&ktsn=120000053380
- • wikidata.org — Q735210
- • commons.wikimedia.org — File:Short-finned Pilot Whale (8793172995).jpg
- • species.nibr.go.kr — mainHome.do
- • animaldiversity.org — Globicephala macrorhynchus
- • fisheries.noaa.gov — short-finned-pilot-whale
- • Silhouette: PhyloPic — author not recorded · CC0 1.0 (Congeneric silhouette — Globicephala melaena)
Recorded dimensions are widely cited representative estimates from public literature and may vary by study or specimen.