First sighting of 2026 of a False killer whales off the coast of Israel
- delphisisrael
- 7 days ago
- 2 min read
Researchers from Delphis received a report of a sighting of seven “large” dolphins. It quickly became clear that they belonged to one of the rarest marine mammal species in the world. Dr. Aviad Scheinin: Since 2020, we have been witnessing this interesting and relatively new phenomenon that occurs in the spring and repeats itself every year. The reason for their appearance is still unclear
While Delphis team was marking the third anniversary of the visit to Israeli shores of Yulia, the Mediterranean monk seal - one of the rarest marine mammal species in the world, the association's researchers received an exciting report on the sighting of another rare species: about seven False killer whales were spotted by members of the "Sail la vie" sailing school off the coast of Ashkelon on Saturday (May 12, 2026).
Delphis researchers say that the false killer whale, or its scientific name
The global population of the false killer whale is classified as threatened (NT) and numbers approximately 80,000 individuals.
Does the False killer whale come close to shore to look for food?
Dr. Aviad Scheinin, Director of the Dolphin and Sea Center at Delphis and Director of the Super Predators Division at the Morris Kahn Marine Research Station at the University of Haifa: "Since 2020, we have been witnessing a very interesting phenomenon in the spring season - which has been repeated every year since then: relatively large flocks of false killer whale have been recorded near the coast, along the entire coast of Israel - from north to south. By 2025, there were 20 sightings - an average of four per year, most of them in the spring. The current sighting is the first for 2026. For now, it is not clear whether the reason for their arrival is a search for food. We will continue to investigate this exciting phenomenon in the coming years and will update."
Delphis reminds us: The False killer whale is indeed a social animal, but we must not forget that it is a wild animal after all, and therefore we must act with extreme caution, allowing it to choose the continuation and nature of the encounter and not forcing our closeness on it.
One of the best ways to protect marine mammal populations off the coast of Israel is to report sightings. Have you seen a marine mammal? Keep a distance, take a picture and report!
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