Killer whale acoustic patterns respond to prey abundance and environmental variability around the Prince Edward Islands, Southern Ocean
Killer whales are apex predators with temporally and spatially varying distributions throughout the world's oceans. Their ecology and behaviour are poorly understood in most regions due to limited research, often because of logistical challenges. Here, we used a passive acoustic monitoring devi...
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.230903 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsos.230903 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rsos.230903 |
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crroyalsociety:10.1098/rsos.230903 2024-10-13T14:02:07+00:00 Killer whale acoustic patterns respond to prey abundance and environmental variability around the Prince Edward Islands, Southern Ocean Shabangu, Fannie W. Daniels, Robyn Jordaan, Rowan K. de Bruyn, P. J. Nico van den Berg, Marcel A. Lamont, Tarron South African National Antarctic Programme South African Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment European Union South African Department of Science and Innovation South African National Research Foundation University of Cape Town International Whaling Commission 2024 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.230903 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsos.230903 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rsos.230903 en eng The Royal Society http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Royal Society Open Science volume 11, issue 1 ISSN 2054-5703 journal-article 2024 crroyalsociety https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.230903 2024-09-23T04:22:17Z Killer whales are apex predators with temporally and spatially varying distributions throughout the world's oceans. Their ecology and behaviour are poorly understood in most regions due to limited research, often because of logistical challenges. Here, we used a passive acoustic monitoring device to investigate the seasonal acoustic occurrence and diel vocalizing behaviour of killer whales around the remote sub-Antarctic Prince Edward Islands (PEIs), Southern Ocean. Killer whales showed diel vocalizing patterns that varied seasonally in relation to their prey abundance and social activities. Killer whale calls were intermittently detected year-round with a high number of hours containing calls in October to December, and a secondary peak in February to May, corresponding to seal prey abundance. Random forest modelling identified wind speed as the primary predictor of the occurrence of killer whale calls (with a negative correlation) while sea surface height, chlorophyll-a and sea surface temperature were moderately important. We provide the first acoustic evidence that killer whale occurrence around the PEIs might coincide with variability in environmental conditions and prey abundance. Our results provide the first indication of diel vocalizing pattern of killer whales in the Southern Ocean. This knowledge is important for understanding killer whale ecology and adaptation to the changing oceans. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Killer Whale Prince Edward Islands Southern Ocean Killer whale The Royal Society Antarctic Southern Ocean Royal Society Open Science 11 1 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
The Royal Society |
op_collection_id |
crroyalsociety |
language |
English |
description |
Killer whales are apex predators with temporally and spatially varying distributions throughout the world's oceans. Their ecology and behaviour are poorly understood in most regions due to limited research, often because of logistical challenges. Here, we used a passive acoustic monitoring device to investigate the seasonal acoustic occurrence and diel vocalizing behaviour of killer whales around the remote sub-Antarctic Prince Edward Islands (PEIs), Southern Ocean. Killer whales showed diel vocalizing patterns that varied seasonally in relation to their prey abundance and social activities. Killer whale calls were intermittently detected year-round with a high number of hours containing calls in October to December, and a secondary peak in February to May, corresponding to seal prey abundance. Random forest modelling identified wind speed as the primary predictor of the occurrence of killer whale calls (with a negative correlation) while sea surface height, chlorophyll-a and sea surface temperature were moderately important. We provide the first acoustic evidence that killer whale occurrence around the PEIs might coincide with variability in environmental conditions and prey abundance. Our results provide the first indication of diel vocalizing pattern of killer whales in the Southern Ocean. This knowledge is important for understanding killer whale ecology and adaptation to the changing oceans. |
author2 |
South African National Antarctic Programme South African Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment European Union South African Department of Science and Innovation South African National Research Foundation University of Cape Town International Whaling Commission |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Shabangu, Fannie W. Daniels, Robyn Jordaan, Rowan K. de Bruyn, P. J. Nico van den Berg, Marcel A. Lamont, Tarron |
spellingShingle |
Shabangu, Fannie W. Daniels, Robyn Jordaan, Rowan K. de Bruyn, P. J. Nico van den Berg, Marcel A. Lamont, Tarron Killer whale acoustic patterns respond to prey abundance and environmental variability around the Prince Edward Islands, Southern Ocean |
author_facet |
Shabangu, Fannie W. Daniels, Robyn Jordaan, Rowan K. de Bruyn, P. J. Nico van den Berg, Marcel A. Lamont, Tarron |
author_sort |
Shabangu, Fannie W. |
title |
Killer whale acoustic patterns respond to prey abundance and environmental variability around the Prince Edward Islands, Southern Ocean |
title_short |
Killer whale acoustic patterns respond to prey abundance and environmental variability around the Prince Edward Islands, Southern Ocean |
title_full |
Killer whale acoustic patterns respond to prey abundance and environmental variability around the Prince Edward Islands, Southern Ocean |
title_fullStr |
Killer whale acoustic patterns respond to prey abundance and environmental variability around the Prince Edward Islands, Southern Ocean |
title_full_unstemmed |
Killer whale acoustic patterns respond to prey abundance and environmental variability around the Prince Edward Islands, Southern Ocean |
title_sort |
killer whale acoustic patterns respond to prey abundance and environmental variability around the prince edward islands, southern ocean |
publisher |
The Royal Society |
publishDate |
2024 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.230903 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsos.230903 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rsos.230903 |
geographic |
Antarctic Southern Ocean |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Southern Ocean |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Killer Whale Prince Edward Islands Southern Ocean Killer whale |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Killer Whale Prince Edward Islands Southern Ocean Killer whale |
op_source |
Royal Society Open Science volume 11, issue 1 ISSN 2054-5703 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.230903 |
container_title |
Royal Society Open Science |
container_volume |
11 |
container_issue |
1 |
_version_ |
1812814932272480256 |