On Tuesday (23) the Department of Environment’s (DoE) Cayman Brac Turtle Patrol discovered the carcass believed to be a pilot whale.

The whale was found between 5 and 6am as the patrol was doing their rounds on the south coast beach of Cayman Brac in the area of the landfill.

The remains of the whale measured13 feet long, with an estimated weight of between 400 and 500 pounds.

Pilot whales are cetaceans belonging to the genus Globicephala. The two extant species are the long-finned pilot whale (G. melas) and the short-finned pilot whale (G. macrorhynchus). The two are not readily distinguished at sea,

Pilot whales are distributed in all oceans. Recent research results have shown surprising life patterns for this relatively unknown cetacean species. First conclusions indicate that they form stable matrilineal kinship groups and supposingly use call dialects. During 20 minute long and more than 1,000m deep dives they may search and hunt for giant squids with a unique hunting strategy. In the focus of hundreds of thousands of whale watchers per year pilot whales represent an exciting dolphin species.

pilot-whales.org wants to provide a vivid picture of this species and uses original acoustic and visual research recordings. Furthermore, pilot-whales.org provides scientific guidance on several biological life aspects of this species obtained from own research and from reports of the scientific community.

And mentioning giant squid….

On Friday (26) angler, Captain Jonathan Arch, who runs Slackem Charters, said he was fishing about three miles north of the north coast of West Bay when he spotted something floating in the water. It was a giant squid. He said he had never seen anything like it before.

He contacted the DoE who believe the squid is a deep-water species known as Megalocranchia. Tests on the squid are currently ongoing. They said it is rare to find a squid the size of this one intact anywhere in the world.

International experts have confirmed the squid is a very important specimen.

At the same time Mr Arch and his crew spotted a pod of orcas.