Surface and underwater observations of cooperatively feeding killer whales in northern Norway
Killer whales (Orcinus orca) feeding on herring (Clupea harengus) were observed both from the surface and underwater. We refer to one of the feeding techniques used by killer whales as the carousel method, whereby whales cooperatively herded herring into a tight ball close to the surface. During her...
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Language: | English |
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1993
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crcansciencepubl:10.1139/z93-210 2024-09-30T14:40:12+00:00 Surface and underwater observations of cooperatively feeding killer whales in northern Norway Similä, Tiu Ugarte, Fernando 1993 http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z93-210 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z93-210 en eng Canadian Science Publishing http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining Canadian Journal of Zoology volume 71, issue 8, page 1494-1499 ISSN 0008-4301 1480-3283 journal-article 1993 crcansciencepubl https://doi.org/10.1139/z93-210 2024-09-05T04:11:14Z Killer whales (Orcinus orca) feeding on herring (Clupea harengus) were observed both from the surface and underwater. We refer to one of the feeding techniques used by killer whales as the carousel method, whereby whales cooperatively herded herring into a tight ball close to the surface. During herding and feeding, whales swam around and under a school of herring, performing much lobtailing and porpoising. When the herring were gathered into a tight ball whales often swam with the white underside of their body towards the fish and emitted large bubbles close to the surface. While feeding, whales spent more time circling around the ball of fish than eating. Ball formation is a known defence mechanism used by schooling fish, and the effort by killer whales appeared to be directed towards keeping the ball very dense and close to the surface. The whales stunned their prey by slapping the edge of the school with the underside of their flukes and then ate the stunned fish one by one. The tail slaps created a loud banging sound which could have been either a by-product or an aid to stunning the prey. Article in Journal/Newspaper Northern Norway Orca Orcinus orca Canadian Science Publishing Norway Canadian Journal of Zoology 71 8 1494 1499 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Canadian Science Publishing |
op_collection_id |
crcansciencepubl |
language |
English |
description |
Killer whales (Orcinus orca) feeding on herring (Clupea harengus) were observed both from the surface and underwater. We refer to one of the feeding techniques used by killer whales as the carousel method, whereby whales cooperatively herded herring into a tight ball close to the surface. During herding and feeding, whales swam around and under a school of herring, performing much lobtailing and porpoising. When the herring were gathered into a tight ball whales often swam with the white underside of their body towards the fish and emitted large bubbles close to the surface. While feeding, whales spent more time circling around the ball of fish than eating. Ball formation is a known defence mechanism used by schooling fish, and the effort by killer whales appeared to be directed towards keeping the ball very dense and close to the surface. The whales stunned their prey by slapping the edge of the school with the underside of their flukes and then ate the stunned fish one by one. The tail slaps created a loud banging sound which could have been either a by-product or an aid to stunning the prey. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Similä, Tiu Ugarte, Fernando |
spellingShingle |
Similä, Tiu Ugarte, Fernando Surface and underwater observations of cooperatively feeding killer whales in northern Norway |
author_facet |
Similä, Tiu Ugarte, Fernando |
author_sort |
Similä, Tiu |
title |
Surface and underwater observations of cooperatively feeding killer whales in northern Norway |
title_short |
Surface and underwater observations of cooperatively feeding killer whales in northern Norway |
title_full |
Surface and underwater observations of cooperatively feeding killer whales in northern Norway |
title_fullStr |
Surface and underwater observations of cooperatively feeding killer whales in northern Norway |
title_full_unstemmed |
Surface and underwater observations of cooperatively feeding killer whales in northern Norway |
title_sort |
surface and underwater observations of cooperatively feeding killer whales in northern norway |
publisher |
Canadian Science Publishing |
publishDate |
1993 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z93-210 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z93-210 |
geographic |
Norway |
geographic_facet |
Norway |
genre |
Northern Norway Orca Orcinus orca |
genre_facet |
Northern Norway Orca Orcinus orca |
op_source |
Canadian Journal of Zoology volume 71, issue 8, page 1494-1499 ISSN 0008-4301 1480-3283 |
op_rights |
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1139/z93-210 |
container_title |
Canadian Journal of Zoology |
container_volume |
71 |
container_issue |
8 |
container_start_page |
1494 |
op_container_end_page |
1499 |
_version_ |
1811642707237404672 |