Seasonal movements of killer whales between Iceland and Scotland
Understanding the movements and distribution of killer whales Orcinus orca is important for evaluating the threats they face, as well as their impact as top predators in different ecosystems. Killer whales in the Northeast Atlantic are thought to follow specific prey stocks but their seasonal moveme...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:93e0ff2d72e24ab683eb27dfb115979b 2023-05-15T16:46:15+02:00 Seasonal movements of killer whales between Iceland and Scotland FIP Samarra AD Foote 2015-09-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3354/ab00637 https://doaj.org/article/93e0ff2d72e24ab683eb27dfb115979b EN eng Inter-Research https://www.int-res.com/abstracts/ab/v24/n1/p75-79/ https://doaj.org/toc/1864-7782 https://doaj.org/toc/1864-7790 1864-7782 1864-7790 doi:10.3354/ab00637 https://doaj.org/article/93e0ff2d72e24ab683eb27dfb115979b Aquatic Biology, Vol 24, Iss 1, Pp 75-79 (2015) Biology (General) QH301-705.5 Microbiology QR1-502 article 2015 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3354/ab00637 2022-12-31T09:00:39Z Understanding the movements and distribution of killer whales Orcinus orca is important for evaluating the threats they face, as well as their impact as top predators in different ecosystems. Killer whales in the Northeast Atlantic are thought to follow specific prey stocks but their seasonal movements are still poorly understood. Here, we used recent killer whale photographic data collected in Iceland and Scotland to show that some individual whales repeatedly move between these locations. Unlike other killer whales that appear to follow the movements of particular herring stocks, the whales we studied appear to feed on the Icelandic summer-spawning herring stock in winter, and then move outside the summer distribution range of this herring stock. Based on these new photographic recaptures and previously published movements of killer whales between Iceland and Scotland, we infer that movements between both locations have been occurring for several years at least. Although based on only 7 identified individuals, our results provide the first evidence of regular seasonal movements between Iceland and Scotland, and suggest individual or group variability in the movement patterns of killer whales that prey on herring. Understanding killer whale movements will aid our understanding of prey specialization, the whales’ potential impacts on local prey resources, and their susceptibility to fluctuations in the availability of different prey species. Article in Journal/Newspaper Iceland Killer Whale Northeast Atlantic Orca Orcinus orca Killer whale Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Aquatic Biology 24 1 75 79 |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Biology (General) QH301-705.5 Microbiology QR1-502 |
spellingShingle |
Biology (General) QH301-705.5 Microbiology QR1-502 FIP Samarra AD Foote Seasonal movements of killer whales between Iceland and Scotland |
topic_facet |
Biology (General) QH301-705.5 Microbiology QR1-502 |
description |
Understanding the movements and distribution of killer whales Orcinus orca is important for evaluating the threats they face, as well as their impact as top predators in different ecosystems. Killer whales in the Northeast Atlantic are thought to follow specific prey stocks but their seasonal movements are still poorly understood. Here, we used recent killer whale photographic data collected in Iceland and Scotland to show that some individual whales repeatedly move between these locations. Unlike other killer whales that appear to follow the movements of particular herring stocks, the whales we studied appear to feed on the Icelandic summer-spawning herring stock in winter, and then move outside the summer distribution range of this herring stock. Based on these new photographic recaptures and previously published movements of killer whales between Iceland and Scotland, we infer that movements between both locations have been occurring for several years at least. Although based on only 7 identified individuals, our results provide the first evidence of regular seasonal movements between Iceland and Scotland, and suggest individual or group variability in the movement patterns of killer whales that prey on herring. Understanding killer whale movements will aid our understanding of prey specialization, the whales’ potential impacts on local prey resources, and their susceptibility to fluctuations in the availability of different prey species. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
FIP Samarra AD Foote |
author_facet |
FIP Samarra AD Foote |
author_sort |
FIP Samarra |
title |
Seasonal movements of killer whales between Iceland and Scotland |
title_short |
Seasonal movements of killer whales between Iceland and Scotland |
title_full |
Seasonal movements of killer whales between Iceland and Scotland |
title_fullStr |
Seasonal movements of killer whales between Iceland and Scotland |
title_full_unstemmed |
Seasonal movements of killer whales between Iceland and Scotland |
title_sort |
seasonal movements of killer whales between iceland and scotland |
publisher |
Inter-Research |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3354/ab00637 https://doaj.org/article/93e0ff2d72e24ab683eb27dfb115979b |
genre |
Iceland Killer Whale Northeast Atlantic Orca Orcinus orca Killer whale |
genre_facet |
Iceland Killer Whale Northeast Atlantic Orca Orcinus orca Killer whale |
op_source |
Aquatic Biology, Vol 24, Iss 1, Pp 75-79 (2015) |
op_relation |
https://www.int-res.com/abstracts/ab/v24/n1/p75-79/ https://doaj.org/toc/1864-7782 https://doaj.org/toc/1864-7790 1864-7782 1864-7790 doi:10.3354/ab00637 https://doaj.org/article/93e0ff2d72e24ab683eb27dfb115979b |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3354/ab00637 |
container_title |
Aquatic Biology |
container_volume |
24 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
75 |
op_container_end_page |
79 |
_version_ |
1766036358791430144 |