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Protected Resources

False Killer Whale

For a current Stock Assessment Report (SAR), please visit: NOAA Fisheries - Office of Protected Resources - Marine Mammal SAR, Small Cetaceans

Proposed False Killer Whale Take Reduction Plan to address the incidental mortality and serious injury of false killer whales in Hawaii's commercial longline fisheries. For more information, please see the False Killer Whale Take Reduction Team webpage

Petition to List as an Endangered Species: On October 1, 2009, the NOAA Fisheries Service (also known as the National Marine Fisheries Service) received a petition by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) to list the Hawaiian insular population of false killer whales (Pseudorca crassidens) as an endangered species and designate critical habitat to ensure its recovery pursuant to the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA), as amended.

• Petition to list the insular population of the Hawaiian false killer whale (Pseudorca crassidens) as endangered under the Endangered Species Act (October 2009, pdf 260kB)

90-day finding on the petition to list the insular population of the Hawaiian false killer whale:
On Tuesday, January 5, 2010, NOAA Fisheries announced in the Federal Register a finding that a petition from the Natural Resources Defense Council to list the insular population of Hawaiian false killer whales as endangered presented substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that the petitioned action may be warranted.

• False Killer Whale 90-day Finding, Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 2 / Tuesday, January 5, 2010 (Jan 2010, pdf 62kB)

Status Review of the Species:
NOAA Fisheries then initiated a status review of the insular population of the Hawaiian false killer whale to determine if listing under the ESA was warranted. In August 2010 the NOAA Fisheries false killer whale Biological Review Team (BRT) completed the following status review report of the species:

• NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-PIFSC-22 (August 2010, pdf 3.6MB).

12-month Finding/Proposed Listing Rule:
NOAA Fisheries completed a comprehensive status review of the Hawaiian insular false killer whale under the ESA. After reviewing the best scientific and commercial information available, we determined that the Hawaiian insular false killer whale is a distinct population segment (DPS) that qualifies as a species under the ESA. Moreover, after evaluating threats facing the species, and considering efforts being made to protect the Hawaiian insular DPS, we determined that the DPS is declining and is in danger of extinction throughout its range. On November 17, 2010, we announced in the Federal Register that we proposed to list the species as endangered under the ESA.

• Proposed Endangered Status for the Hawaiian Insular False Killer Whale Distinct Population Segment, Federal Register/Vol. 75, No. 221/ Wednesday, November 17, 2010 (November 2010, pdf 113kB)

Current Status of the Petition Response:
NOAA Fisheries is currently reviewing all public comments received and any new data to determine if a final listing of the Hawaiian insular false killer whale DPS as endangered is warranted.

Physical Description

• Long, slender, almost entirely black bodies with an anchor-shaped gray patch on their ventral side and a rounded, conical head.
• Pectoral fins with a distinct hump that points backwards.
• Most distinguishing feature are 7-12 pairs of large conical teeth that resemble teeth of a killer whale.
• Adults size range from 16-20 feet and weigh from 1,000-3,000 pounds, with males at the upper end of the scale.
• They are highly social animals forming pods of 10-40 individuals in Hawaii, and up to 100 individuals elsewhere.

• Interactions with fisheries
• Marine debris entanglement or ingestion
• Anthropogenic noise
• Marine pollutants
  
  *For additional information on potential threats, please refer to the current status review of the species: NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-PIFSC-22 (August 2010, pdf 3.6MB).

Marine Mammal Stranding/Entanglement Hotline: 1-888-245-9840

• False Killer Whale Take Reduction Team
• Cascadia Research, false killer whale information
• Marine Mammal and Turtle Viewing Guidelines
• Long-term site fidelity, inter-island movements, and association patterns (Aug 2008, pdf 1.7 MB)
• Dorsal Fin Disfigurement as Possible Indicator of Long-Line Fishery Interactions in Hawaiian Waters (June 2005, pdf 293 kB)
• Fact Sheet - False Killer Whale (Oct 2005, pdf 238kB)
• Fisheries Global Information System (FIGIS) Species Fact Sheet