Did Commercial Whaling Cause the Sequential Decline of Marine Mammals in Alaska?
The killer whale (Orcinus orca) is an apex predator that, according to its feeding habits, may be described as a resident, a transient, or an offshore type in the Pacific Ocean. There is an ongoing debate about anthropogenic impacts on the dynamics of the North Pacific food web; impacts such as the...
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ftnsoutheastern:oai:nsuworks.nova.edu:cnso_stucap-1249 2023-05-15T17:03:32+02:00 Did Commercial Whaling Cause the Sequential Decline of Marine Mammals in Alaska? Rodriguez, Carmen J. 2011-12-01T08:00:00Z https://nsuworks.nova.edu/cnso_stucap/198 unknown NSUWorks https://nsuworks.nova.edu/cnso_stucap/198 HCNSO Student Capstones Killer Whale Food Webs Megafaunal Decline Marine Biology Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology capstone 2011 ftnsoutheastern 2022-04-10T20:37:14Z The killer whale (Orcinus orca) is an apex predator that, according to its feeding habits, may be described as a resident, a transient, or an offshore type in the Pacific Ocean. There is an ongoing debate about anthropogenic impacts on the dynamics of the North Pacific food web; impacts such as the development of commercial whaling and the effects on the diets of apex predators. This paper reviews two main hypotheses; first that the decimation of the great whales caused transient killer whales to cease hunting large whales to hunt smaller marine mammals. The alternate hypothesis states that great whales were never a main prey item for transient killer whales and therefore their decimation did not cause prey-switching, or the population collapse of small marine mammals. Evidence is presented in the form of observed attacks on great whales, isotope records that showed enrichment of nitrogen 15N/14N and carbon 13C/12C among types of killer whales, and physiological evidence. The alternative hypothesis was supported by the physical challenges whales would have to endure to hunt greater whales, “regime shifts,” in the North Pacific and ecological changes. Additional information includes descriptions of types of killer whales, food webs, whaling history, marine mammals of Alaska, and population numbers. This paper concludes that although killer whales are one of a number of contributing factors in de disappearance of seals, sea lions, and sea otters in Alaska, commercial whaling does not appear to be the key that unleashed a cascade of population declines. Other/Unknown Material Killer Whale Orca Orcinus orca Alaska Killer whale Nova Southeastern University: NSU Works Pacific |
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Nova Southeastern University: NSU Works |
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Killer Whale Food Webs Megafaunal Decline Marine Biology Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology |
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Killer Whale Food Webs Megafaunal Decline Marine Biology Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology Rodriguez, Carmen J. Did Commercial Whaling Cause the Sequential Decline of Marine Mammals in Alaska? |
topic_facet |
Killer Whale Food Webs Megafaunal Decline Marine Biology Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology |
description |
The killer whale (Orcinus orca) is an apex predator that, according to its feeding habits, may be described as a resident, a transient, or an offshore type in the Pacific Ocean. There is an ongoing debate about anthropogenic impacts on the dynamics of the North Pacific food web; impacts such as the development of commercial whaling and the effects on the diets of apex predators. This paper reviews two main hypotheses; first that the decimation of the great whales caused transient killer whales to cease hunting large whales to hunt smaller marine mammals. The alternate hypothesis states that great whales were never a main prey item for transient killer whales and therefore their decimation did not cause prey-switching, or the population collapse of small marine mammals. Evidence is presented in the form of observed attacks on great whales, isotope records that showed enrichment of nitrogen 15N/14N and carbon 13C/12C among types of killer whales, and physiological evidence. The alternative hypothesis was supported by the physical challenges whales would have to endure to hunt greater whales, “regime shifts,” in the North Pacific and ecological changes. Additional information includes descriptions of types of killer whales, food webs, whaling history, marine mammals of Alaska, and population numbers. This paper concludes that although killer whales are one of a number of contributing factors in de disappearance of seals, sea lions, and sea otters in Alaska, commercial whaling does not appear to be the key that unleashed a cascade of population declines. |
format |
Other/Unknown Material |
author |
Rodriguez, Carmen J. |
author_facet |
Rodriguez, Carmen J. |
author_sort |
Rodriguez, Carmen J. |
title |
Did Commercial Whaling Cause the Sequential Decline of Marine Mammals in Alaska? |
title_short |
Did Commercial Whaling Cause the Sequential Decline of Marine Mammals in Alaska? |
title_full |
Did Commercial Whaling Cause the Sequential Decline of Marine Mammals in Alaska? |
title_fullStr |
Did Commercial Whaling Cause the Sequential Decline of Marine Mammals in Alaska? |
title_full_unstemmed |
Did Commercial Whaling Cause the Sequential Decline of Marine Mammals in Alaska? |
title_sort |
did commercial whaling cause the sequential decline of marine mammals in alaska? |
publisher |
NSUWorks |
publishDate |
2011 |
url |
https://nsuworks.nova.edu/cnso_stucap/198 |
geographic |
Pacific |
geographic_facet |
Pacific |
genre |
Killer Whale Orca Orcinus orca Alaska Killer whale |
genre_facet |
Killer Whale Orca Orcinus orca Alaska Killer whale |
op_source |
HCNSO Student Capstones |
op_relation |
https://nsuworks.nova.edu/cnso_stucap/198 |
_version_ |
1766057418139107328 |