A review of false killer whales in Hawaiian waters: biology, status, and risk factors Robin W. Baird Cascadia Research Collective 218 ½ West Fourth Avenue Olympia, WA 98501
[email protected] Report prepared for the U.S. Marine Mammal Commission under Order No. E40475499 December 23, 2009 False killer whales in Hawai‘i 1. Executive Summary.................................................................................................................. 2 2. Introduction............................................................................................................................... 3 3. Biology of false killer whales.................................................................................................... 3 4. False killer whales in Hawaiian waters................................................................................... 5 4.A. Population structure ........................................................................................................... 7 4.B. Population ranges, individual movements, and potential boundaries/overlap............... 10 4.C. Estimates of abundance/population size.......................................................................... 12 4.D. Population trends.............................................................................................................. 15 4.E. Social organization and group structure ......................................................................... 17 4.F. Diet and foraging ecology................................................................................................