Fróðskaparrit - 01.01.1991, Page 52

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STUDIES ON THE LONG-FINNED PILOT WHALE
and Mouritsen, in print), as well as the one
described by Sergeant (1962) around New
Foundland with a favorite prey (Illex
illecebrosus), which can be substituted, in
case of scarcity, with other prey, including
fish.
The highly seasonal catch of long-finned
pilot whales in the Faroes has coincided with
the seasonal abundance of their favorite
prey (T. sagittatus), (Joensen and Zachari-
assen, 1982; in print; Hoydal, in print) in the
same way as in New Foundland with Illex
illecebrosus (Sergeant, 1962; Mercer, 1967;
1975).
Miscellaneous
Albinism. Albino pilot whales have been
recorded on a few occasions:
1. In Miðvágur, in 1895, one whale was red-
brown and another snow-white (á Ryggi
1960: 15).
2. In 1938 an albino pilot whale occurred in
a school in Vágur on Suðuroy (J. Peter-
sen, pers. comm.).
3. In a school of 89 whales in Vestmanna,
January 11, 1970, one whale was an albi-
no (R. Mouritsen, pers. comm.)..
4. In 1979 an albino was seen several times
on the Faroe Bank by fishermen (R.
Mouritsen, pers. comm.).
5. In Hvannasund, 1983-84, a female with
calf was lighter in colour than the rest of
the school (J. Petersen, pers. comm.).
Use of the meat and blubber. In daily use,
one skinn was commonly calculated to be
about 25 kg of blubber and 50 kg of meat
(Joensen, 1976). From further study (Bloch
and Zachariassen, 1989) an average skinn
value corresponds to 34 kg of blubber and 38
kg of meat, i.e. nearly 70 kg.
If the average skinn value was multiplied
with the average amount used, 70 kg, the
utilization would be on average 54%, with a
range of 30-77%, N = 7 (Table 2), a value
confirmed by Bloch and Zachariassen (1989)
from a larger sample. The large variation
from one whale to another in utilization can
most likely be attributed to the subjective as-
sessment.
The 54% utilization figure was higher
than that for fish (47%). The remaining
46% of the pilot whale was skeleton, head
and intestines. Before the introduction of
electric lighting in homes, the heads were
boiled down for lamp oil, and the bones
were used as fertilizer in the fields.
Today intestines are used by some as bait
on line fishery, and the production of ma-
nure from the remaining 46% of the whale is
being considered. With a yearly catch of
about 2000 pilot whales averaging 5.6 skinn
(Hoydal, in print), and a 1 skinn whale
weighing a total of 7300:57= 128 kg (Table
2), the yearly basis for a fertilizer industry
would only be an annual amount of: 2000 x
5.6 X 0.128 X 0.46 = 660 tons.
According to Miiller (1882; 1884) the
smaller whales were thought best because of
their delicate meat and proportionally great-
er amount of blubber. This is still the case
today, but Table 2 could indicate a trerid
towards a decline in the utilization of the
smallest whales.
Conclusion
The observed growth pattern demonstrated
in this study, with males having a larger body
size (1.28 times), shorter life .span (5 years),
and higher natural mortality rate than fe-
males, (Fig. 4) and a polygynous social
structure (Amos et al, 1991) agree well with