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A false killer whale that researchers call “PWF#0109” shed about 500 pounds in just 10 weeks as it sought the increasingly scarce mahimahi, ono and other large fish it needed to survive in the waters off the Main Hawaiian Islands, according to new research. The loss represented more than a quarter of the endangered animal’s body weight, Pacific Whale Foundation Chief Scientist Jens Currie said, and it highlighted a growing problem for the unique population that lives solely off the main islands. Those false killer whales, which are already trending toward extinction, aren’t finding enough food as they compete with nearshore commercial fishers who pursue the same, dwindling catch, according to a new study by Currie and other marine mammal researchers. Warming seas tied to climate change are also driving down the available nutrients, they found. The study, published this month in the journal Endangered Species, adds to a previous and possibly related finding: that the local false killer whales — which are actually dolphins — now get hooked and injured by gear from nearshore commercial fishing boats at a troubling rate as they pursue food around the islands. “This helps fill an important piece of the puzzle,” said Robin...