Foraging behaviour and ecology of transient killer whales within a deep submarine canyon system
Transient killer whales have been documented hunting marine mammals across a variety of habitats. However, relatively little has been reported about their predatory behaviours near deep submarine canyons and oceanic environments. We used a long-term database of sightings and encounters with these pr...
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0299291 https://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0299291 |
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crplos:10.1371/journal.pone.0299291 2024-05-19T07:39:44+00:00 Foraging behaviour and ecology of transient killer whales within a deep submarine canyon system McInnes, Josh D. Lester, Kevin M. Dill, Lawrence M. Mathieson, Chelsea R. West-Stap, Peggy J. Marcos, Stephanie L. Trites, Andrew W. Hyrenbach, David Mitacs 2024 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0299291 https://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0299291 en eng Public Library of Science (PLoS) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ PLOS ONE volume 19, issue 3, page e0299291 ISSN 1932-6203 journal-article 2024 crplos https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0299291 2024-05-01T06:57:13Z Transient killer whales have been documented hunting marine mammals across a variety of habitats. However, relatively little has been reported about their predatory behaviours near deep submarine canyons and oceanic environments. We used a long-term database of sightings and encounters with these predators in and around the Monterey Submarine Canyon, California to describe foraging behaviour, diet, seasonal occurrence, and habitat use patterns. Transient killer whales belonging to the outer coast subpopulation were observed within the study area 261 times from 2006–2021. Occurrences, behaviours, and group sizes all varied seasonally, with more encounters occurring in the spring as grey whales migrated northward from their breeding and calving lagoons in Mexico (March-May). Groups of killer whales foraged exclusively in open water, with individuals within the groups following the contours of the submarine canyon as they searched for prey. Focal follows revealed that killer whales spent 51% of their time searching for prey (26% of their time along the shelf-break and upper slope of the canyon, and 25% in open water). The remainder of their time was spent pursuing prey (10%), feeding (23%), travelling (9%), socializing (6%), and resting (1%). Prey species during 87 observed predation events included California sea lions, grey whale calves, northern elephant seals, minke whales, common dolphins, Pacific white-sided dolphins, Dall’s porpoise, harbour porpoise, harbour seals, and sea birds. The calculated kill rates (based on 270 hours of observing 50 predation events) were 0.26 California sea lions per killer whale over 24 hours, 0.11 grey whale calves, and 0.15 for all remaining prey species combined. These behavioural observations provide insights into predator-prey interactions among apex predators over submarine canyons and deep pelagic environments. Article in Journal/Newspaper Elephant Seals Harbour porpoise Killer Whale Killer whale PLOS PLOS ONE 19 3 e0299291 |
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crplos |
language |
English |
description |
Transient killer whales have been documented hunting marine mammals across a variety of habitats. However, relatively little has been reported about their predatory behaviours near deep submarine canyons and oceanic environments. We used a long-term database of sightings and encounters with these predators in and around the Monterey Submarine Canyon, California to describe foraging behaviour, diet, seasonal occurrence, and habitat use patterns. Transient killer whales belonging to the outer coast subpopulation were observed within the study area 261 times from 2006–2021. Occurrences, behaviours, and group sizes all varied seasonally, with more encounters occurring in the spring as grey whales migrated northward from their breeding and calving lagoons in Mexico (March-May). Groups of killer whales foraged exclusively in open water, with individuals within the groups following the contours of the submarine canyon as they searched for prey. Focal follows revealed that killer whales spent 51% of their time searching for prey (26% of their time along the shelf-break and upper slope of the canyon, and 25% in open water). The remainder of their time was spent pursuing prey (10%), feeding (23%), travelling (9%), socializing (6%), and resting (1%). Prey species during 87 observed predation events included California sea lions, grey whale calves, northern elephant seals, minke whales, common dolphins, Pacific white-sided dolphins, Dall’s porpoise, harbour porpoise, harbour seals, and sea birds. The calculated kill rates (based on 270 hours of observing 50 predation events) were 0.26 California sea lions per killer whale over 24 hours, 0.11 grey whale calves, and 0.15 for all remaining prey species combined. These behavioural observations provide insights into predator-prey interactions among apex predators over submarine canyons and deep pelagic environments. |
author2 |
Hyrenbach, David Mitacs |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
McInnes, Josh D. Lester, Kevin M. Dill, Lawrence M. Mathieson, Chelsea R. West-Stap, Peggy J. Marcos, Stephanie L. Trites, Andrew W. |
spellingShingle |
McInnes, Josh D. Lester, Kevin M. Dill, Lawrence M. Mathieson, Chelsea R. West-Stap, Peggy J. Marcos, Stephanie L. Trites, Andrew W. Foraging behaviour and ecology of transient killer whales within a deep submarine canyon system |
author_facet |
McInnes, Josh D. Lester, Kevin M. Dill, Lawrence M. Mathieson, Chelsea R. West-Stap, Peggy J. Marcos, Stephanie L. Trites, Andrew W. |
author_sort |
McInnes, Josh D. |
title |
Foraging behaviour and ecology of transient killer whales within a deep submarine canyon system |
title_short |
Foraging behaviour and ecology of transient killer whales within a deep submarine canyon system |
title_full |
Foraging behaviour and ecology of transient killer whales within a deep submarine canyon system |
title_fullStr |
Foraging behaviour and ecology of transient killer whales within a deep submarine canyon system |
title_full_unstemmed |
Foraging behaviour and ecology of transient killer whales within a deep submarine canyon system |
title_sort |
foraging behaviour and ecology of transient killer whales within a deep submarine canyon system |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
publishDate |
2024 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0299291 https://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0299291 |
genre |
Elephant Seals Harbour porpoise Killer Whale Killer whale |
genre_facet |
Elephant Seals Harbour porpoise Killer Whale Killer whale |
op_source |
PLOS ONE volume 19, issue 3, page e0299291 ISSN 1932-6203 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0299291 |
container_title |
PLOS ONE |
container_volume |
19 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
e0299291 |
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1799479319524802560 |