Rare false killer whales surface alongside boaters in the Mediterranean, video shows
Boaters in the eastern Mediterranean Sea recently happened upon a rare pod of false killer whales, video footage shows.
A group of friends were sailing near Tel Aviv, Israel, in the early morning hours of March 18 when the encounter occurred.
About 40 minutes into their trip, they noticed multiple fins jutting out from the surface of the water, according to a news release from Delphis, an Israeli environmental research non-profit.
As the boaters got closer, they realized the fins belonged to a group of six to 10 dolphins — which they believed to be a common species. The marine mammals then swam alongside their vessel for around an hour.
A video posted by Delphis shows the sleek, dark-colored creatures calmly cruising just below the surface and occasionally breaching to breathe.
Soon after the encounter, the boaters reported the sighting using the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel's SeaWatch app. From there, it was forwarded to Delphis, which confirmed the creatures were false killer whales.
A type of oceanic dolphin, false killer whales are named for their skull shape, which resembles that of an orca, according to the International Whaling Commission.
Measuring up to 20 feet long, the dolphins are social animals that feed on a variety of fish and squid. They are found throughout much of the world's oceans, though little is known about the size of their populations, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Aviad Sheinin, the director of Delphis' Dolphin and Sea Center, said in the release that false killer whales are one of the rarest marine mammals known in the region — though he added that sightings are becoming more common.
Before 2020, the animals avoided the coastal areas of Israel, instead preferring the deeper waters of the Mediterranean, Sheinin said. But, since the COVID-19 pandemic, sightings have been reported each year, with the last one occurring in June.
Google Translate was used to translate a news release from Delphis.
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