Development of intentional stranding hunting techniques in killer whale ( Orcinus orca) calves at Crozet Archipelago
This paper describes the trend in the practice of what we interpret to be the "intentional stranding" hunting technique of two juvenile female killer whales (Orcinus orca), A4 and A5, belonging to pod A on the beaches of Possession Island, Crozet Archipelago. Pod A was composed of three ad...
Published in: | Canadian Journal of Zoology |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Canadian Science Publishing
1995
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z95-004 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z95-004 |
id |
crcansciencepubl:10.1139/z95-004 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
crcansciencepubl:10.1139/z95-004 2024-06-23T07:52:28+00:00 Development of intentional stranding hunting techniques in killer whale ( Orcinus orca) calves at Crozet Archipelago Guinet, Christophe Bouvier, Jérome 1995 http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z95-004 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z95-004 en eng Canadian Science Publishing http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining Canadian Journal of Zoology volume 73, issue 1, page 27-33 ISSN 0008-4301 1480-3283 journal-article 1995 crcansciencepubl https://doi.org/10.1139/z95-004 2024-06-13T04:10:51Z This paper describes the trend in the practice of what we interpret to be the "intentional stranding" hunting technique of two juvenile female killer whales (Orcinus orca), A4 and A5, belonging to pod A on the beaches of Possession Island, Crozet Archipelago. Pod A was composed of three adult females, A2, A3, A6, and one adult male, A1. A2 is A4's mother and A3 is A5's mother. The year of birth and thus the probable age of the two juveniles were estimated from their growth curve determined by means of a photogrammetric technique. These observations indicate that at Crozet Archipelago, juvenile killer whales first practiced intentional stranding on their own when they were 4–5 years old. Their first attempt to capture elephant seal pups by means of this technique was observed when they were 5–6 years old. However, 5- to 6-year-old juveniles still needed the assistance of an adult female to return to the water with their prey. This study indicates that learning hunting techniques needs a high degree of skill and requires high parental investment to reduce the associated risk. Furthermore, social transfer, through apprenticeship, is probably one of the mechanisms that enables the high degree of adaptability observed in killer whales. Article in Journal/Newspaper Elephant Seal Killer Whale Orca Orcinus orca Possession Island Killer whale Canadian Science Publishing Possession Island ENVELOPE(171.200,171.200,-71.867,-71.867) The Beaches ENVELOPE(-56.832,-56.832,49.583,49.583) Canadian Journal of Zoology 73 1 27 33 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Canadian Science Publishing |
op_collection_id |
crcansciencepubl |
language |
English |
description |
This paper describes the trend in the practice of what we interpret to be the "intentional stranding" hunting technique of two juvenile female killer whales (Orcinus orca), A4 and A5, belonging to pod A on the beaches of Possession Island, Crozet Archipelago. Pod A was composed of three adult females, A2, A3, A6, and one adult male, A1. A2 is A4's mother and A3 is A5's mother. The year of birth and thus the probable age of the two juveniles were estimated from their growth curve determined by means of a photogrammetric technique. These observations indicate that at Crozet Archipelago, juvenile killer whales first practiced intentional stranding on their own when they were 4–5 years old. Their first attempt to capture elephant seal pups by means of this technique was observed when they were 5–6 years old. However, 5- to 6-year-old juveniles still needed the assistance of an adult female to return to the water with their prey. This study indicates that learning hunting techniques needs a high degree of skill and requires high parental investment to reduce the associated risk. Furthermore, social transfer, through apprenticeship, is probably one of the mechanisms that enables the high degree of adaptability observed in killer whales. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Guinet, Christophe Bouvier, Jérome |
spellingShingle |
Guinet, Christophe Bouvier, Jérome Development of intentional stranding hunting techniques in killer whale ( Orcinus orca) calves at Crozet Archipelago |
author_facet |
Guinet, Christophe Bouvier, Jérome |
author_sort |
Guinet, Christophe |
title |
Development of intentional stranding hunting techniques in killer whale ( Orcinus orca) calves at Crozet Archipelago |
title_short |
Development of intentional stranding hunting techniques in killer whale ( Orcinus orca) calves at Crozet Archipelago |
title_full |
Development of intentional stranding hunting techniques in killer whale ( Orcinus orca) calves at Crozet Archipelago |
title_fullStr |
Development of intentional stranding hunting techniques in killer whale ( Orcinus orca) calves at Crozet Archipelago |
title_full_unstemmed |
Development of intentional stranding hunting techniques in killer whale ( Orcinus orca) calves at Crozet Archipelago |
title_sort |
development of intentional stranding hunting techniques in killer whale ( orcinus orca) calves at crozet archipelago |
publisher |
Canadian Science Publishing |
publishDate |
1995 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z95-004 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z95-004 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(171.200,171.200,-71.867,-71.867) ENVELOPE(-56.832,-56.832,49.583,49.583) |
geographic |
Possession Island The Beaches |
geographic_facet |
Possession Island The Beaches |
genre |
Elephant Seal Killer Whale Orca Orcinus orca Possession Island Killer whale |
genre_facet |
Elephant Seal Killer Whale Orca Orcinus orca Possession Island Killer whale |
op_source |
Canadian Journal of Zoology volume 73, issue 1, page 27-33 ISSN 0008-4301 1480-3283 |
op_rights |
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1139/z95-004 |
container_title |
Canadian Journal of Zoology |
container_volume |
73 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
27 |
op_container_end_page |
33 |
_version_ |
1802643778870181888 |