Predation on gray whales and prolonged feeding on submerged carcasses by transient killer whales at Unimak Island, Alaska

Marine Ecology Progress Series

Volumn 421, Issue , 2011, Pages 229-241

  Barrett Lennard, Lance G ^a,b   Matkin, Craig O ^c   Durban, John W ^d,e   Saulitis, Eva L ^c   Ellifrit, David ^f  

^a VANCOUVER AQUARIUM   (Canada)

^b UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA   (Canada)

^c North Gulf Oceanic Society   (United States)

^d NOAA National Marine Mammal Laboratory   (United States)

^e SOUTHWEST FISHERIES SCIENCE CENTER   (United States)

^f CENTER FOR WHALE RESEARCH   (United States)

Author keywords

Atching Preyc; Brown bear; Foraging strategy; Hale Gray; Killer whale; Predatory behavior; Scavenger; Sleeper shark

Indexed keywords

BEAR; FEEDING BEHAVIOR; MARINE ECOSYSTEM; PREDATION; SCAVENGER; WHALE;

ALASKA; ALEUTIAN ISLANDS; FOX ISLANDS; UNIMAK ISLAND; UNITED STATES;

CETACEA; CHONDRICHTHYES; ESCHRICHTIIDAE; ESCHRICHTIUS ROBUSTUS; ORCINUS ORCA; SOMNIOSUS MICROCEPHALUS; SOMNIOSUS PACIFICUS; URSUS ARCTOS;

EID: 78751660200     PISSN: 01718630     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.3354/meps08906     Document Type: Article

References (58)

1. Baird RW (2006) Killer whales of the world: natural history and conservation. Voyageur Press, St. Paul, MN
2. Baird RW, Dill LM (1995) Occurrence and behaviour of transient killer whales: seasonal and pod-specific variability, foraging behaviour, and prey handling. Can J Zool 73: 1300-1311
3. Baird RW, Dill LM (1996) Ecological and social determinants of group size in transient killer whales. Behav Ecol 7: 408-416
4. Baldridge A (1972) Killer whales attack and eat a gray whale. J Mammal 53:898-900
5. Barrett-Lennard LG (2000) Population structure and mating patterns of killer whales (Orcinus orca) as revealed by DNA analysis. PhD thesis, University of British Columbia, Vancouver
6. Barrett-Lennard LG, Heise KA (2006) The natural history and ecology of killer whales. In: Estes JA, DeMaster DP, Doak DF, Williams TM, Brownell RL Jr (eds) Whales, whaling, and ocean ecosystems. University of California Press, Berkeley, CA, p 163-173
7. Barrett-Lennard LG, Ford JKB, Heise KA (1996a) The mixed blessing of echolocation: differences in sonar use by fisheating and mammal-eating killer whales. Anim Behav 51: 553-565
8. Barrett-Lennard LG, Smith TG, Ellis GM (1996b) A cetacean biopsy system using lightweight pneumatic darts, and its effect on the behavior of killer whales. Mar Mamm Sci 12:14-27
9. Bigg MA (1982) An assessment of killer whale (Orcinus orca) stocks off Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Rep Int Whal Comm 32:625-666
10. Bigg MA, Ellis GM, Ford JKB, Balcomb KC III (1987) Killer whales: a study of their identification, genealogy and natural history in British Columbia and Washington State. Phantom Press, Nanaimo, British Columbia
11. Bigg MA, Olesiuk PF, Ellis GM, Ford JKB, Balcomb KC III (1990) Social organization and genealogy of resident killer whales (Orcinus orca) in the coastal waters of British Columbia and Washington State. Rep Int Whal Comm Spec Issue 12:383-405
12. Brown C (ed) (2005) Brown bear management report of survey- inventory activities 1 July 2002-30 June 2004. Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Juneau, AK
13. Budylenko GA (1981) Distribution and some aspect of the biology of killer whale in the South Atlantic. Rep Int Whal Comm 31:523-525
14. Butler LB (2005) Unit 10 brown bear management report. In: Brown C (ed) Brown bear management report of surveyinventory activities 1 July 2002-30 June 2004. Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Juneau, AK, p 113-116
15. Corkeron PJ, Connor RC (1999) Why do baleen whales migrate? Mar Mamm Sci 15:1228-1245
16. Dahlheim ME, Schulman-Janiger A, Black N, Ternullo R, Ellifrit D, Balcomb KC III (2008) Eastern temperate North Pacific offshore killer whales (Orcinus orca): occurrence, movements, and insights into feeding ecology. Mar Mamm Sci 24:719-729
17. Deecke VB (2003) The vocal behavior of transient killer whales (Orcinus orca): communicating with costly calls. PhD thesis, University of St. Andrews
18. Deecke VB, Ford JKB, Slater PJB (2005) The vocal behavior of mammal-eating killer whales: communicating with costly calls. Anim Behav 69:395-405
19. Durban J, Ellifrit D, Dahlheim M, Waite J and others (2010) Photographic mark-recapture analysis of clustered mammal-eating killer whales around the Aleutian Islands and Gulf of Alaska. Mar Biol 157:1591-1604
20. Estes JA, Tinker MT, Williams TM, Doak DF (1998) Killer whale predation on sea otters linking oceanic and nearshore ecosystems. Science 282:473-476
21. Ford JKB, Ellis GM (1999) Transients: mammal-hunting killer whales. University of British Columbia Press, Vancouver
22. Ford JKB, Ellis GM (2006) Selective foraging by fish-eating killer whales Orcinus orca in British Columbia. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 316:185-199
23. Ford JKB, Reeves RR (2008) Fight or flight: antipredator strategies in baleen whales. Mamm Rev 38:50-86
24. Ford JKB, Ellis GM, Barrett-Lennard LG, Morton AB, Balcomb KC (1998) Dietary specialization in two sympatric populations of killer whales (Orcinus orca) in coastal British Columbia and adjacent waters. Can J Zool 76: 1456-1471
25. Ford JKB, Ellis GM, Balcomb KC (2000) Killer whales: the natural history and genealogy of Orcinus orca in the waters of British Columbia and Washington, 2nd edn. University of British Columbia Press, Vancouver
26. Gende SM, Quinn TP (2004) The relative importance of prey density and social dominance in determining energy intake by bears feeding on Pacific salmon. Can J Zool 82:75-85
27. Goley PD, Straley JM (1994) Attack on gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus) in Monterey Bay, California, by killer whales Orcinus orca previously identified in Glacier Bay, Alaska. Can J Zool 72:1528-1530
28. Guinet C, Barrett-Lennard LG, Loyer B (2000) Co-ordinated attack behavior and prey sharing by killer whales at Crozet Archipelago: strategies for feeding on negatively buoyant prey. Mar Mamm Sci 16:829-834
29. Heise K, Barrett-Lennard LG, Saulitis E, Matkin CO, Bain D (2003) Examining the evidence for killer whale predation on Steller sea lions in British Columbia and Alaska. Aquat Mamm 29:325-334
30. Herman DP, Burrows DG, Wade PR, Durban JW and others (2005) Feeding ecology of eastern North Pacific killer whales Orcinus orca from fatty acid, stable isotope, and organochlorine analyses of blubber biopsies. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 302:275-291
31. Hulbert LB, Sigler MF, Lunsford CR (2006) Depth and movement behavior of the Pacific sleeper shark in the northeast Pacific. J Fish Biol 69:406-425
32. Jefferson TA, Stacey PJ, Baird RW (1991) A review of killer whale interactions with other marine mammals; predation to co-existence. Mamm Rev 21:151-180
33. Jones I (2006) A northeast Pacific offshore killer whale (Orcinus orca) feeding on a Pacific halibut (Hippoglossus stenolepis). Mar Mamm Sci 22:198-200
34. Kim SL, Conlan K, Malone DP, Lewis CV (2005) Possible food caching and defence in the Weddell seal: observations from McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. Antarct Sci 17:71-72
35. Krahn MM, Herman DP, Matkin CO, Durban JW and others (2007) Use of chemical tracers in assessing the diet and foraging regions of eastern North Pacific killer whales. Mar Environ Res 63:91-114
36. Ljungblad DK, Moore SE (1983) Killer whales (Orcinus orca) chasing gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus) in the northern Bering Sea. Arctic 36:361-364
37. Maniscalco JM, Matkin CO, Maldinini D, Calkins DG, Atkinson S (2007) Assessing killer whale predation on Steller sea lions from field observations in Kenai Fjords, Alaska. Mar Mamm Sci 23:306-321
38. Matkin CO, Ellis G, Olesiuk P, Saulitis E (1999a) Association patterns and inferred genealogies of resident killer whales, Orcinus orca, in Prince William Sound, Alaska. Fish Bull 97:900-919
39. Matkin CO, Ellis GM, Saulitis EL, Barrett-Lennard LG, Matkin DR (1999b) Killer whales of southern Alaska. North Gulf Oceanic Society, Homer, AK
40. Matkin CO, Barrett-Lennard LG, Yurk H, Ellifrit DK, Trites AW (2007) Ecotypic variation and predatory behavior of killer whales (Orcinus orca) in the eastern Aleutian Islands, Alaska. Fish Bull 105:74-87
41. Mehta AV, Allen JM, Constantine R, Garrigue C and others (2007) Baleen whales are not important as prey for killer whales Orcinus orca in high-latitude regions. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 348:297-307
42. Melnikov VV, Zagrebin IA (2005) Killer whale predation in coastal waters of the Chukotka Peninsula. Mar Mamm Sci 21:550-556
43. Morin PA, Archer FI, Foote AD, Vilstrup J and others (2010) Complete mitochondrial genome analysis of killer whales (Orcinus orca) indicates multiple species. Genome Res 20: 908-916
44. Morton AB (1990) A quantitative comparison of the behavior of resident and transient forms of killer whales off the central BC coast. Rep Int Whal Comm Spec Issue 12:245-248
45. Naessig PJ, Lanyon JM (2004) Levels and probable origin of predatory scarring on humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) in east Australian waters. Wildl Res 31: 163-170
46. Pitman RL, Ballance LT, Mesnick SL, Chivers SJ (2001) Killer whale predation on sperm whales: observations and implications. Mar Mamm Sci 17:494-507
47. Reeves RR, Berger J, Clapham PJ (2006) Killer whales as predators of large baleen whales and sperm whales. In: Estes JA, DeMaster DP, Doak DF, Williams TM, Brownell RL Jr (eds) Whales, whaling, and ocean ecosystems. University of California Press, Berkeley, CA, p 174-187
48. Sambrook J, Fritsch EF, Maniatis T (1989) Molecular cloning: a laboratory manual. Cold Spring Harbor, New York, NY
49. Saulitis E, Matkin C, Barrett-Lennard L, Heise K, Ellis G (2000) Foraging strategies of sympatric killer whale (Orcinus orca) populations in Prince William Sound, Alaska. Mar Mamm Sci 16:94-109
50. Saulitis EL, Matkin CO, Fay FH (2005) Vocal repertoire and acoustic behavior of the isolated AT1 killer whale subpopulation in southern Alaska. Can J Zool 83:1015-1029
51. Scammon CM (1874) The marine mammals of the northwestern coast of North America. John H. Carmany & Co, San Francisco, CA (reprinted in 1968 by Dover, New York, NY)
52. Sigler MF, Hulbert LB, Lunsford CR, Thompson NH, Burek K, O'Corry-Crowe G, Hirons AC (2006) Diet of Pacific sleeper shark, a potential Steller sea lion predator, in the north-east Pacific Ocean. J Fish Biol 69:392-405
53. Springer AM, Estes JA, van Vliet GB, Williams TM and others (2003) Sequential megafaunal collapse in the North Pacific Ocean: an ongoing legacy of industrial whaling? Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 100:12223-12228
54. Steiger GH, Calambokidis J, Straley JM, Herman LM and others (2008) Geographic variation in killer whale attacks on humpback whales in the North Pacific: implications for predation pressure. Endang Species Res 4:247-256
55. Vander Wall SB (1990) Food hoarding in animals. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL
56. Vos DJ, Quakenbush LT, Mahoney BA (2006) Documentation of sea otters and birds as prey for killer whales. Mar Mamm Sci 22:201-205
57. Weller DW, Burdin AM, Wursig B, Taylor BL, Brownell RL Jr (2002) The western gray whale: a review of past exploitation, current status and potential threats. J Cetacean Res Manag 4:7-12
58. Yang MS, Page BN (1999) Diet of Pacific sleeper shark, Somniosus pacificus, in the Gulf of Alaska. Fish Bull 97:406-409