Melon-Headed Whales

The melon-headed whale is a small, slender member of the dolphin family named for its rounded, melon-shaped head, often mistaken for a pygmy killer whale or small pilot whale.

Classification

Description

Melon-headed whales are dark gray to black with a pointed snout, rounded head, and a narrow white to gray patch around the lips sometimes called a "sad face" marking.

Size

Adults typically measure 8.2 to 9 feet in length and weigh between 350 and 460 pounds, one of the smaller members of the blackfish group.

Habitat

Melon-headed whales inhabit deep tropical and subtropical offshore waters worldwide, rarely venturing close to shore except where the seafloor drops off quickly.

Diet

They feed primarily on small squid and fish, hunting cooperatively at depth, often at night when prey rises toward the surface.

Social structure

Melon-headed whales travel in some of the largest pods of any cetacean, from a few hundred to well over a thousand individuals, sometimes mixed with other dolphin species.