Researchers study false killer whale found on Maui… Animal’s last meal offers insight into endangered species
Octopus remains were found in the belly of a rare false killer whale on Maui, a dietary discovery that researchers say could help the endangered species.
After a insular false killer whale was found dead on Maui in February, the University of Hawaii Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Lab examined the whale and identified 25 individual pelagic octopuses in its stomach, a previously unknown food item for the creature.
“We did not expect these big pelagic octopuses to be found in its stomach, that’s for sure,” said Kristi West, lab director and an associate researcher at University of Hawaii at Manoa’s Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology. “It points to just how every animal can tell us something about their life out there, in that we thought we had a pretty good idea about what false killer whales eat from prior strandings.”
