▁materials ). ▁ ▁Be hav iour ▁ ▁Social ▁L ives ▁ ▁Short - f inned ▁pilot ▁wh ales ▁are ▁long - l ived , ▁slow ▁to ▁reproduce , ▁and ▁highly ▁social ▁animals . ▁They ▁are ▁usually ▁found ▁in ▁pod s ▁of ▁ 1 0 ▁to ▁ 3 0 ▁individuals , ▁though ▁groups ▁of ▁up ▁to ▁several ▁hundred ▁short - f inned ▁pilot ▁wh ales ▁have ▁been ▁reported ▁in ▁the ▁Car ib bean . ▁ ▁These ▁pod s ▁are ▁stable ▁social ▁structures , ▁meaning ▁that ▁they ▁form ▁hier arch ical ▁associations ▁that ▁remain ▁stable ▁for ▁gener ations , ▁and ▁are ▁primarily ▁though ▁to ▁be ▁mat ril ine al , ▁i . e . ▁lead ▁by ▁an ▁elder ▁female ▁relative , ▁similar ▁to ▁those ▁of ▁resident ▁k iller ▁wh ales . ▁However , ▁a ▁study ▁by ▁Van ▁C ise ▁et ▁al . ▁( 2 0 1 7 ) ▁showed ▁that , ▁in ▁the ▁Hawai i ▁islands , ▁the ▁social ▁organization ▁of ▁pod s ▁was ▁indic ative ▁of ▁famil ial ▁behaviour ▁rather ▁than ▁mat ril ine al , ▁and ▁was ▁driven ▁by ▁gen etic ▁related ness . ▁Gr oups ▁of ▁closely ▁related ▁individuals ▁formed ▁tight ▁associations , ▁or ▁clusters , ▁with ▁other ▁close ▁relatives , ▁and ▁gen etic ▁analysis ▁revealed ▁a ▁significant ▁different iation ▁between ▁clusters , ▁even ▁those ▁that ▁were ▁present ▁in ▁the ▁same ▁area . ▁Cl ust ers ▁that ▁were ▁more ▁gen et ically ▁different ▁also ▁spent ▁less ▁time ▁together . ▁This ▁could ▁suggest ▁that ▁social ▁behaviour ▁in ▁short - f inned ▁pilot ▁wh