What an incredible day it was when we were in the water swimming with Spinner dolphins and up came a pod of about 25 pilot whales, along with bottlenose dolphins, to join in the action. They swam right up to us, making our hearts beat fast! The pilot whales migrate through our proposed marine sanctuary at various times throughout the year and we are always very excited when we see them.  On another encounter, we blissfully floated along with a pod of over 200 pilot whales and about 50 Bottlenose dolphins.  The Bottlenose weaved in and out of the Pilot Whales, riding their wake and playing with the baby pilot whales.

The Pilot Whales are one of our favorite cetaceans to encounter because they are friendly, curious and amazingly beautiful.  It is difficult to think about all the Pilot Whales that are murdered each year by the Japanese and other countries who continue to hunt them.  Pilot Whale hunters like to call them "Blackfish" and insist they are not whales.

Adult Pilot Whales can grow up to 22 feet long. Pilot whales can dive up to 2000 feet deep, but most dives are 195 feet. Pilot whales are also known to nurse for up to 19 years!

040101ID_	040101ID_02	040101IDPiloto	040101IDPilotosideview	040101IDPilototopview	040101Pilot@Bottlenose
040101Piloto	040101Piloto02	040101Piloto03	040101Pilotocara	040101Pilotocara02	040101Pilotocara03
040101Pilotocara04	040101Pilotocara05	040101Pilotshower	040101Pilotshower02	040101Pilotshower03	040101SidePilot
040101Sideswim	Pilot Breathing	Pilot Eye	Pilot whale friendly	Pilot whale juvenile	Pilot whale juvenile2
Pilot whale pod	Pilot Whale Under	PilotClose	PilotCruise	PilotEye2	PilotFace
Pilotface2	Pilotface3	pilothead	PilotLook	PilotMouth2	PilotMouthOpen
PilotPair	Pilotsolitaire	PilotSolo	PilotSolo2	PilotSolo3	PilotTotem
Pilotunder	Pointing Pilot