scholarly journals The diving behaviour of mammal-eating killer whales (Orcinus orca): variations with ecological not physiological factors

2010 ◽  
Vol 88 (11) ◽  
pp. 1103-1112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick James O’Malley Miller ◽  
Ari Daniel Shapiro ◽  
Volker Bernt Deecke
Keyword(s):  
Ecological Factors ◽  
Dive Depth ◽  
Diving Behaviour ◽  
Orcinus Orca ◽  
Breath Hold ◽  
Diel Variation ◽  
Adult Males ◽  
Killer Whales ◽  
Physiological Limits ◽  
Suction Cup

Mammal-eating killer whales ( Orcinus orca (L., 1758)) are a rare example of social predators that hunt together in groups of sexually dimorphic adults and juveniles with diverse physiological diving capacities. Day–night ecological differences should also affect diving as their prey show diel variation in activity and mammal-eating killer whales do not rely on echolocation for prey detection. Our objective was to explore the extent to which physiological aerobic capacities versus ecological factors shape the diving behaviour of this breath-hold diver. We used suction-cup-attached depth recorders (Dtags) to record 7608 dives of 11 animals in southeast Alaska. Analysis of dive sequences revealed a strong bout structure in both dive depth and duration. Day–night comparisons revealed reduced rates of deep dives, longer shallow dives, and shallower long-duration dives at night. In contrast, dive variables did not differ by age–sex class. Estimates of the aerobic dive limit (cADL) suggest that juveniles exceeded their cADL during as much as 15% of long dives, whereas adult males and females never exceeded their cADL. Mammal-eating killer whales in this area appear to employ a strategy of physiological compromise, with smaller group members diving nearer their physiological limits and large-bodied males scaling down their physiological performance.

Factors influencing the diving behaviour of fish-eating killer whales: sex differences and diel and interannual variation in diving rates

2005 ◽  
Vol 83 (2) ◽  
pp. 257-267 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robin W Baird ◽  
M Bradley Hanson ◽  
Lawrence M Dill
Keyword(s):  
Diving Behaviour ◽  
Sexually Dimorphic ◽  
Activity Levels ◽  
Adult Males ◽  
Killer Whales ◽  
Suction Cup ◽  
Term Change ◽  
Inshore Waters ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
Long Timescales

Diving behaviour of air-breathing vertebrates may be influenced by a variety of factors including age, body size, and changes in prey behaviour and (or) abundance over both short and long timescales. We studied the diving behaviour of a highly sexually dimorphic odontocete cetacean, the killer whale, Orcinus orca (L., 1758), using suction-cup-attached time-depth recorders (TDRs). We tested the hypotheses that dive rates (no. of dives/h greater than or equal to specific depths) of fish-eating killer whales varied between males and females, with age, between day and night, and among pods and years. Data were used from 34 TDR deployments between 1993 and 2002 in the inshore waters of southern British Columbia, Canada, and Washington, USA. Dive rates did not change with age or differ among pods or between males and females, although analyses restricted to adults showed that adult males dove deep significantly more frequently than adult females during the day. For all whales, dive rates and swim speeds were greater during the day than at night, suggesting decreased activity levels at night. Dive rates to deeper depths during the day decreased over the study, suggesting a long-term change in prey behaviour or abundance, though uncertainty regarding the diet of this population precludes determination of the cause of such changes.

Diving behaviour of lactating southern sea lions (Otaria flavescens) in Patagonia

1995 ◽  
Vol 73 (11) ◽  
pp. 1975-1982 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rodolfo Werner ◽  
Claudio Campagna
Keyword(s):  
Median Duration ◽  
Dive Depth ◽  
Dive Duration ◽  
Diving Behaviour ◽  
Diel Variation ◽  
Otaria Flavescens ◽  
Sea Lions ◽  
Aerobic Dive Limit

The diving behaviour of six lactating female southern sea lions (Otaria flavescens) was recorded during 52.4 animal-days at sea. Information was obtained from 18 057 dives. Females spent 52.7 ± 6.2% of the time at sea diving. Median and maximum dive depths ranged from 19 to 62 and from 97 to 175 m, respectively. Dives were short, with median and maximum durations ranging from 2.1 to 3.2 and from 4.4 to 7.7 min, respectively. Dives deeper than 10 m represented 56 – 89% of total dives and involved 93 – 97% of total diving time. Mean dive depth and duration of dives greater than 10 m were 61 m and 3 min, respectively. Most of these dives (69%) had a flat-bottomed U-shaped profile, bottom time constituting about half of the dive duration. Shallow dives, with a modal depth of 2 m, were short (median duration 0.1 –0.8 min), with virtually no time spent at the bottom of the dive. During trips to sea, which ranged from less than 1 day to more than 4 days, females dove continuously. Mean dive frequency was between 11 and 19 per hour. Surface intervals were short (median 0.9–1.2 min) and there was no apparent diel variation in dive depth or frequency. The estimated aerobic dive limit of the females was exceeded on only a few dives (0.7 – 6.2%). Transit to potential foraging areas took 0.2–8.3 h.

Population size, survival and reproductive rates of northern Norwegian killer whales (Orcinus orca) in 1986–2003

2013 ◽  
Vol 94 (6) ◽  
pp. 1277-1291 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sanna Kuningas ◽  
Tiu Similä ◽  
Philip S. Hammond
Keyword(s):  
Population Size ◽  
Killer Whale ◽  
Survival Rates ◽  
Clupea Harengus ◽  
Orcinus Orca ◽  
Adult Males ◽  
Killer Whales ◽  
Apparent Survival ◽  
Photo Identification ◽  
Reproductive Rates

A long-term photo-identification study of killer whales (Orcinus orca) in northern Norway was initiated in 1986, when their prey the Norwegian spring-spawning herring (Clupea harengus) started to winter in a complex fjord system. The aim of this work was to estimate population size and apparent survival rates in this killer whale population using photo-identification and mark–recapture techniques with data collected during October–December 1986–2003. Total population size was estimated to be highest in 2003: 731 individuals (SE = 139, 95% CI = 505–1059) using a model taking heterogeneity of capture probabilities into account. Apparent survival of adult males and adult females was estimated using the Cormack–Jolly–Seber model as 0.971 (SE = 0.008) and 0.977 (SE = 0.009), respectively. Calving intervals ranged from 3 to 14 years (mean = 5.06, SE = 0.722). These are the first estimates of northern Norwegian killer whale population parameters, allowing their dynamics to be investigated and comparisons to be made with killer whale populations globally.

Killer whales (Orcinus orca) attack and kill a Bryde's whale (Balaenoptera edeni)

1990 ◽  
Vol 68 (7) ◽  
pp. 1603-1606 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory K. Silber ◽  
Michael W. Newcomer ◽  
Héctor Pérez-Cortés M.
Keyword(s):  
Adult Male ◽  
Gulf Of California ◽  
Orcinus Orca ◽  
Adult Males ◽  
Killer Whales ◽  
Lower Jaw ◽  
Large Wound ◽  
The Right ◽  
Male Killer

On 3 May 1988, we observed a group of killer whales that pursued, killed, and partially consumed a Bryde's whale in the northern Gulf of California, Mexico (31°01′N, 114°15′W). The attack was observed from 06:54 to 08:53 while circling in a single-engine aircraft at an altitude of 160 m. The group comprised about 15 killer whales, including two adult males and at least two calves. Females and (or) subadult males pressed the attack most intently. The killer whales tore skin and blubber from the right flank of the Bryde's whale, and on 11 occasions the killer whales swam onto the head or back of the Bryde's whale, which hindered its breathing. The respiration intervals of the Bryde's whale were short and irregular, and blow rates differed significantly from those of undisturbed Bryde's whales. Fatiguing the whale may have facilitated an easier kill by asphyxiation. After the death of the Bryde's whale, the two adult male killer whales surfaced slowly about 200–300 m away from the remainder of the group, which presumably fed on the submerged Bryde's whale carcass. Two days later, the drifting Bryde's whale carcass was located. A large wound was visible on the abdomen, and sections of the lower jaw had been removed. Like those of canids and some felids that hunt cooperatively when preying on ungulates, attacks by Orcinus orca exhibit coordination of activities and efficiency in dispatching prey.

Summer diving behaviour of lactating New Zealand sea lions, Phocarctos hookeri

1997 ◽  
Vol 75 (10) ◽  
pp. 1695-1706 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. J. Gales ◽  
R. H. Mattlin
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Dive Depth ◽  
Diving Behaviour ◽  
Physiological Adaptation ◽  
Sea Lions ◽  
Dive Behaviour ◽  
Physiological Limits ◽  
Aerobic Dive Limit ◽  
Foraging Environment ◽  
Phocarctos Hookeri

The diving behaviour of 14 female New Zealand sea lions (Phocarctos hookeri) was recorded during early lactation in January and February 1995 on the Auckland Islands, New Zealand. During 73 trips to sea, 19 720 dives were recorded. The average duration of a foraging cycle was 2.9 days (range 1.4–4.8 days), of which 1.7 days (57%) (range 1.1–3.4 days) were spent at sea and 1.2 days (43%) (range 0.8–2.3 days) ashore. At sea the sea lions dived almost continuously at a rate of 7.5 dives/h and spent a mean of 45% of the time submerged (≥ 2 m). Dive behaviour varied among individuals but showed no diel pattern overall. The dive depth for all dives ≥ 6 m was 123 ± 87 m (mean ± SD) (median 124 m, maximum 474 m) and ranged among individuals from 79 ± 85 to 187 ± 166 m. About half of the dives were in the 101- to 180-m range. The duration of all dives was 3.9 ± 1.8 min (median 4.33 min, maximum 11.3 min); about half (51%) of the dive durations were between 4 and 6 min. Surface interval was 4.5 ± 15.8 min (median 1.9 min). Almost half (44%) of all dives exceeded the calculated aerobic dive limit of each sea lion (range 16–73% for individuals). Most dive profiles were flat bottomed and, we believe, are to the benthos. A mean of 51.5% of all dive time was spent in the deepest 85% of the dive. Prey remains found during this study were primarily of benthic and demersal organisms. Phocarctos hookeri is the deepest and longest diving of any of the otariids recorded to date. We suggest that the dive behaviour may reflect either successful physiological adaptation to exploiting benthic prey and (or) a marginal foraging environment in which diving behaviour is close to physiological limits.

scholarly journals Movements, diving behaviour and diet of type‐C killer whales ( Orcinus orca ) in the Ross Sea, Antarctica

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (12) ◽  
pp. 2428-2440
Author(s):  
Giancarlo Lauriano ◽  
Enrico Pirotta ◽  
Trevor Joyce ◽  
Robert L. Pitman ◽  
Asunción Borrell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ross Sea ◽  
Diving Behaviour ◽  
Orcinus Orca ◽  
Killer Whales ◽  
Type C

Personality in captive killer whales (Orcinus orca): A rating approach based on the five-factor model.

2019 ◽  
Vol 133 (2) ◽  
pp. 252-261 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yulán Úbeda ◽  
Sara Ortín ◽  
Judy St. Leger ◽  
Miquel Llorente ◽  
Javier Almunia
Keyword(s):  
Factor Model ◽  
Five Factor Model ◽  
Orcinus Orca ◽  
Killer Whales

scholarly journals Family feud: permanent group splitting in a highly philopatric mammal, the killer whale (Orcinus orca)

2021 ◽  
Vol 75 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva H. Stredulinsky ◽  
Chris T. Darimont ◽  
Lance Barrett-Lennard ◽  
Graeme M. Ellis ◽  
John K. B. Ford
Keyword(s):  
Killer Whale ◽  
Group Structure ◽  
Group Living ◽  
Orcinus Orca ◽  
Learning Approaches ◽  
Killer Whales ◽  
Internal Factors ◽  
Individual Fitness ◽  
Leadership Experience

Abstract For animals that tend to remain with their natal group rather than individually disperse, group sizes may become too large to benefit individual fitness. In such cases, group splitting (or fission) allows philopatric animals to form more optimal group sizes without sacrificing all familiar social relationships. Although permanent group splitting is observed in many mammals, it occurs relatively infrequently. Here, we use combined generalized modeling and machine learning approaches to provide a comprehensive examination of group splitting in a population of killer whales (Orcinus orca) that occurred over three decades. Fission occurred both along and across maternal lines, where animals dispersed in parallel with their closest maternal kin. Group splitting was more common: (1) in larger natal groups, (2) when the common maternal ancestor was no longer alive, and (3) among groups with greater substructuring. The death of a matriarch did not appear to immediately trigger splitting. Our data suggest intragroup competition for food, leadership experience and kinship are important factors that influence group splitting in this population. Our approach provides a foundation for future studies to examine the dynamics and consequences of matrilineal fission in killer whales and other taxa. Significance statement Group living among mammals often involves long-term social affiliation, strengthened by kinship and cooperative behaviours. As such, changes in group membership may have significant consequences for individuals’ fitness and a population’s genetic structure. Permanent group splitting is a complex and relatively rare phenomenon that has yet to be examined in detail in killer whales. In the context of a growing population, in which offspring of both sexes remain with their mothers for life, we provide the first in-depth examination of group splitting in killer whales, where splitting occurs both along and across maternal lines. We also undertake the first comprehensive assessment of how killer whale intragroup cohesion is influenced by both external and internal factors, including group structure, population and group demography, and resource abundance.

Sounds associated with foraging and prey capture in individual fish-eating killer whales, Orcinus orca

2019 ◽  
Vol 146 (5) ◽  
pp. 3475-3486 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marla M. Holt ◽  
M. Bradley Hanson ◽  
Candice K. Emmons ◽  
David K. Haas ◽  
Deborah A. Giles ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prey Capture ◽  
Orcinus Orca ◽  
Killer Whales ◽  
Individual Fish
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