SHORT-FINNED PILOT WHALE (Globicephala macrorhynchus): Western North Atlantic Stock

STOCK DEFINITION AND GEOGRAPHIC RANGE 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. These species are difficult to identify to the species level at sea; therefore, some of the descriptive material below refers to Globicephala sp. and is identified as such. The species boundary is considered to be in the New Jersey to Cape Hatteras area. Sightings north of this area are likely G. melas. The short-finned pilot whale is distributed worldwide in tropical to warm temperate waters (Leatherwood and Reeves 1983). The northern extent of the range of this species within the U.S. Atlantic Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) is generally thought to be Cape Hatteras, North Carolina (Leatherwood and Reeves 1983). Sightings of these animals in U.S. Atlantic EEZ occur primarily within the Gulf Stream [Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC) unpublished data], and primarily along the continental shelf and continental slope in the northern Gulf of Mexico (Mullin et al. 1991; SEFSC unpublished data). There is no information on stock differentiation for the Atlantic population.