Social Behavior
Pilot whales are social animals. They live in groups from 20 to 150 individuals up to a thousand. In the group is a core group that stays together for a long time. Other animals stay for a period of time and switch groups now and then. Calves stay often with their mother for all their life.
Other species like common bottlenose dolphins, Atlantic white-sided dolphins and Risso’s dolphins join the pods of long fins often.
Surfacing
Pilot whales are very curious . They put their heads above the water to see what is going on, this is called ‘spy hopping’.
Photo: uk.whales.org, Hugh Venables
Photo: Ocean-sounds.org, Heike Vester
You can also see pilot whales tail slapping (hitting their tail hard on the water) or breaching (jumping out of the water and landing sideways). These actions are probably done for social reasons and communicating.
Photo: Fredrik Broms