First report on the stomach contents of long-finned pilot whales, Globicephala melas, stranded in New Zealand

Stomach contents of the long-finned pilot whale, Globicephala melas, are reported for the first time from New Zealand waters. Analyses based on two male and three female whales (2.5-5.3 m in length) that stranded on Farewell Spit, Golden Bay, South Island in December 2005 revealed a diet comprised exclusively of cephalopods (2-33 lower cephalopod beaks per stomach). Two genera of cephalopod from two orders; arrow squid, Nototodarus spp. (Teuthoidea: Ommastrephidae), and common octopus, Pinnoctopus cordiformis (Octopoda: Octopodidae) were represented. A further five pilot whale stomachs were examined and found to be empty.