Pilot Whales Are "Cheetahs of the Sea," Study Finds for National
Geographic News |May 16, 2008| Short-finned pilot whales off the
Canary Islands race like cheetahs after prey over long distances
in the deep Atlantic waters, new research reveals. Like all
whales, pilot whales need to come to the surface to breathe, but
they can hold their breaths for extended periods. Short-finned
pilot whales are known to dive to more than 3,200 feet (1,000
meters), but their behavior in the deep ocean has been a
mystery. Researchers monitored the whales near Tenerife, the
largest island in the Spanish-controlled archipelago (see map),
by attaching tags to 23 of the animals with suction cups. The
tags recorded movement, sound, and depth for one day, after
which they disconnected and floated to the surface for
collection. "We really wanted to know what whale behavior was
like at depth," said study author Natacha Aguilar Soto, of the
University of La Laguna in Tenerife. "We expected deep-diving
whales to maintain slow speeds to