The descriptive text, below the map, is from the Cornish Red Data Book (2009). The map on this web page depicts the organisms distribution and shows the records made pre-2000 and those made since.
Range & Status
Two populations of Long-finned Pilot Whales are recognised; one in the Northern
Hemisphere, which includes UK waters, and one in the Southern Hemisphere. It is common and widely distributed in deep north Atlantic waters, but seasonally enters coastal areas such as the Faroe Islands, northern Scotland, western Ireland and the south-west English Channel approaches. It also occurs south to the Iberian Peninsula and is common in the Mediterranean. (UK Biodiversity Group, 1999).
Strandings
After the spectacular stranding of about 50 individuals at Penzance in 1911, there were no official reports of strandings until 1932 (1), 1933 (1), 1947 (1), 1956 (2), 1967 (1), 1969 (1), 1970 (2), 1971 (1), 1972 (1), 1973 (2), 1974 (8), 1975 (5), 1976 (4), 1977 (1), 1978 (3), 1979 (5), 1980 (2), 1982 (4), 1983 (1), 1984 (1), 1986 (1), 1987 (6), 1988 (2), 1989 (4), 1990 (2), 1991 (9), 1992 (9), 1993 (1), 1994 (1), 1995 (3), 1996 (1) 1997 (6) 1998 (2) 1999 (5) 2000 (2) 2001 (15) 2002 (5) 2004 (1) 2006 (2), 2008 (1).
Sightings
1995 (4), 1996 (1), 1997 (6), 1998 (2), 1999 (11), 2000 (13), 2001 (15), 2002 (4), 2003 (3), 2004 (9), 2005 (5), 2006 (8), 2007 (5).
Conservation
This species is listed as Data Deficient (Taylor et al ., 2008a. Globicephala melas . In: IUCN 2008. 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
I.J. Bennallick, S. Board, C.N. French, P.A. Gainey, C. Neil, R. Parslow, A. Spalding and P.E. Tompsett. eds. 2009. Red Data Book for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. 2nd Edition.Croceago Press. The Cornish Red Data Book Project was led by the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Federation for Biological Recorders (CISFBR). The full text and species accounts (minus the maps) are available on the CISFBR website.
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