Killer Whale (Orcinus orca) Predation on Beaked Whales (Mesoplodon spp.) in the Bremer Sub-Basin, Western Australia

Observations of killer whales (Orcinus orca) feeding on the remains of beaked whales have been previously documented; however, to date, there has been no published account of killer whales actively preying upon beaked whales. This article describes the first field observations of killer whales inter...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PLOS ONE
Main Authors: Wellard, Rebecca, Lightbody, Keith, Fouda, Leila, Blewitt, Michelle, Riggs, David, Erbe, Christine
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science 2016
Subjects:
Research Article
Killer Whale
Orca
Orcinus orca
Killer whale
Online Access:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5140045/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27923044
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0166670
Description
Summary:Observations of killer whales (Orcinus orca) feeding on the remains of beaked whales have been previously documented; however, to date, there has been no published account of killer whales actively preying upon beaked whales. This article describes the first field observations of killer whales interacting with, hunting and preying upon beaked whales (Mesoplodon spp.) on four separate occasions during 2014, 2015 and 2016 in the Bremer Sub-Basin, off the south coast of Western Australia.

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