Instead , albatrosses eat squids that die after mating , or after they have been vomited by squid-eating whales ( such as sperm whales and pilot whales ) . The source of these dead squid is a matter of debate ; some certainly comes from squid fisheries , but in nature it primarily comes from the die-off that occurs after squid spawning and the vomit of squid-eating whales ( sperm whales , pilot whales and Southern Bottlenose Whales ) .