The Melon-headed whale or Blackfish has a head shaped somewhat like a torpedo, which gives it its common name Melonhead. It is normally either gray or dark grey in color. The Melon-headed whale has two long and pointy flippers; its dorsal fin is tall and pointed somewhat like its flippers. It has been mistaken numerous times as an Orca whale, its cousin. The Melon-headed whale normally at birth weighs about 30 pounds and is about 1 meter long, and adults can weigh up to 450 pounds and reach a height of 3 meters or about ten feet.

 

“Melon-Headed Whales are found in odd places around the world”, although they mostly are found in tropical areas, like the Philippines, or Hawaii. They can also be seen in places like The Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic Ocean, the South China Sea, etc. They prefer deep over shallow water so they aren’t seen by humans often.  Melon-Headed Whales are found in large numbers around 100-1000.

 

A Melon-Headed Whale’s diet consists of mostly small fish, shrimp, or large squid the same diet as a common dolphin. They are very aggressive and will attack small dolphins. They must compete with most marine animals like other dolphins or whales for food because they have such a common diet, even though the sea is full of prey. Although, if squid, fish, and shrimp go extinct then they would have to survive off of smaller dolphins.

 

They are rarely preyed upon. Its top predators are humans, due to pollution, noise pollution, and accidental catching. Other than humans it is somewhat on the top of the food chain. Although humans are its top predator it is at an endangered level of least concern on the listings.

 

“The Melon Head is capable of very fast swimming when startled” It can make short clear jumps out of the water just like dolphins. Most information gathered about Melon Headed whales was learned due to a mass stranding in shallow water in 2009. Nobody knows how they got stranded because Melon Headed whales have a complex sonar system that lets them read what the ocean floor looks like around them. Most people think the stranding was caused by nearby dynamite fishers that could have hurt their sensitive ears and caused them to go astray.

 

This is the information I gathered about the Melon-Headed Whale. All in all the Melon-Headed Whale is a very interesting animal, and  I enjoyed learning about them and their habitats and habits.

 

Author: Christian W.

Published: 2/11

 

Sources: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/species/mammals/cetaceans/melonheadedwhale.htm

http://marinebio.org/species.asp?id=417

 

Photo Credit: Chuck Babbits, http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=7466490