Migratory and diurnal activity of North Atlantic killer whales ( Orcinus orca ) off northern Norway
Assessing the migratory behaviour of individual and groups of animals is key to understand the function of migration, its evolution, and how it is affected by environment and human activities. In the eastern North Atlantic, killer whales ( Orcinus orca ) presumably track herring stocks as they migra...
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fteawag:oai:dora:eawag_21439 2024-09-15T17:58:01+00:00 Migratory and diurnal activity of North Atlantic killer whales ( Orcinus orca ) off northern Norway Dietz, Rune Rikardsen, Audun H. Biuw, Martin Kleivane, Lars Lehmkuhl Noer, Christina Stalder, Dominique van Beest, Floris M. Rigét, Frank F. Sonne, Christian Hansen, Martin Strager, Hanne Olsen, Morten Tange 2020 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jembe.2020.151456 eng eng Elsevier Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology--J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol.--journals:1610--0022-0981 eawag:21439 doi:10.1016/j.jembe.2020.151456 scopus: 2-s2.0-85091008219 journal id: journals:1610 issn: 0022-0981 ut: 000588286500003 satellite tracking state-space switching model diurnal movements long-distance movement Journal Article Text 2020 fteawag https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jembe.2020.151456 2024-08-05T03:04:28Z Assessing the migratory behaviour of individual and groups of animals is key to understand the function of migration, its evolution, and how it is affected by environment and human activities. In the eastern North Atlantic, killer whales ( Orcinus orca ) presumably track herring stocks as they migrate between across the region. However, the detailed migratory and foraging behaviour of eastern North Atlantic killer whales is poorly understood. We report on the behaviour of 15 adult male killer whales equipped with Argos satellite transmitters during the winter of 2015-2016 along the coast of Troms, northern Norway. The animals were tracked for 8-104 days (mean: 41 days), during which they migrated 302-7608 Km (mean: 2646 Km). The observed movement of killer whales south to 64.2°N along the Norwegian coast following NSS-herring to their spawning grounds is in agreement with previous studies. However, our study is the first to also document northern migration of three of the Norwegian killer whales into the Barents Sea region towards Novaya Zemlya Island about 900 km from the Norwegian coast approaching 77.0°N. Importantly, using a Bayesian state-space model, we offer new insights on killer whale searching and transit movements, as well as diurnal patterns in swimming speed, preferred foraging habitat and feeding behaviour. The 15 tagged killer whales spend 75.0% of the time in an area restricted search (ARS) mode (range: 55.2-95.2%), 3.9% of the time in a transit mode (range: 0.0-16.1%) and 21.1% (range: 4.8-36.3%) in uncertain mode. The restricted search behaviour peaked at the end of January and beginning of February, after which the killer whales gradually performing transit behaviour as they followed the migrating herring out of the region, or shifted to other prey items. Article in Journal/Newspaper Barents Sea Killer Whale North Atlantic Northern Norway Novaya Zemlya Orca Orcinus orca Killer whale Troms DORA Eawag Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 533 151456 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
DORA Eawag |
op_collection_id |
fteawag |
language |
English |
topic |
satellite tracking state-space switching model diurnal movements long-distance movement |
spellingShingle |
satellite tracking state-space switching model diurnal movements long-distance movement Dietz, Rune Rikardsen, Audun H. Biuw, Martin Kleivane, Lars Lehmkuhl Noer, Christina Stalder, Dominique van Beest, Floris M. Rigét, Frank F. Sonne, Christian Hansen, Martin Strager, Hanne Olsen, Morten Tange Migratory and diurnal activity of North Atlantic killer whales ( Orcinus orca ) off northern Norway |
topic_facet |
satellite tracking state-space switching model diurnal movements long-distance movement |
description |
Assessing the migratory behaviour of individual and groups of animals is key to understand the function of migration, its evolution, and how it is affected by environment and human activities. In the eastern North Atlantic, killer whales ( Orcinus orca ) presumably track herring stocks as they migrate between across the region. However, the detailed migratory and foraging behaviour of eastern North Atlantic killer whales is poorly understood. We report on the behaviour of 15 adult male killer whales equipped with Argos satellite transmitters during the winter of 2015-2016 along the coast of Troms, northern Norway. The animals were tracked for 8-104 days (mean: 41 days), during which they migrated 302-7608 Km (mean: 2646 Km). The observed movement of killer whales south to 64.2°N along the Norwegian coast following NSS-herring to their spawning grounds is in agreement with previous studies. However, our study is the first to also document northern migration of three of the Norwegian killer whales into the Barents Sea region towards Novaya Zemlya Island about 900 km from the Norwegian coast approaching 77.0°N. Importantly, using a Bayesian state-space model, we offer new insights on killer whale searching and transit movements, as well as diurnal patterns in swimming speed, preferred foraging habitat and feeding behaviour. The 15 tagged killer whales spend 75.0% of the time in an area restricted search (ARS) mode (range: 55.2-95.2%), 3.9% of the time in a transit mode (range: 0.0-16.1%) and 21.1% (range: 4.8-36.3%) in uncertain mode. The restricted search behaviour peaked at the end of January and beginning of February, after which the killer whales gradually performing transit behaviour as they followed the migrating herring out of the region, or shifted to other prey items. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Dietz, Rune Rikardsen, Audun H. Biuw, Martin Kleivane, Lars Lehmkuhl Noer, Christina Stalder, Dominique van Beest, Floris M. Rigét, Frank F. Sonne, Christian Hansen, Martin Strager, Hanne Olsen, Morten Tange |
author_facet |
Dietz, Rune Rikardsen, Audun H. Biuw, Martin Kleivane, Lars Lehmkuhl Noer, Christina Stalder, Dominique van Beest, Floris M. Rigét, Frank F. Sonne, Christian Hansen, Martin Strager, Hanne Olsen, Morten Tange |
author_sort |
Dietz, Rune |
title |
Migratory and diurnal activity of North Atlantic killer whales ( Orcinus orca ) off northern Norway |
title_short |
Migratory and diurnal activity of North Atlantic killer whales ( Orcinus orca ) off northern Norway |
title_full |
Migratory and diurnal activity of North Atlantic killer whales ( Orcinus orca ) off northern Norway |
title_fullStr |
Migratory and diurnal activity of North Atlantic killer whales ( Orcinus orca ) off northern Norway |
title_full_unstemmed |
Migratory and diurnal activity of North Atlantic killer whales ( Orcinus orca ) off northern Norway |
title_sort |
migratory and diurnal activity of north atlantic killer whales ( orcinus orca ) off northern norway |
publisher |
Elsevier |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jembe.2020.151456 |
genre |
Barents Sea Killer Whale North Atlantic Northern Norway Novaya Zemlya Orca Orcinus orca Killer whale Troms |
genre_facet |
Barents Sea Killer Whale North Atlantic Northern Norway Novaya Zemlya Orca Orcinus orca Killer whale Troms |
op_relation |
Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology--J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol.--journals:1610--0022-0981 eawag:21439 doi:10.1016/j.jembe.2020.151456 scopus: 2-s2.0-85091008219 journal id: journals:1610 issn: 0022-0981 ut: 000588286500003 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jembe.2020.151456 |
container_title |
Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology |
container_volume |
533 |
container_start_page |
151456 |
_version_ |
1810434229228535808 |