Killer Whales (Orcinus orca) Chasing Gray Whales (Eschrichtius robustus) in the Northern Bering Sea
Sixteen killer whales (Orcinus orca) were observed for 90 minutes as they approached and then chased gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus) in the Bering Sea north of St. Lawrence Island, Alaska. The killer whales swam in four discrete lines that blew synchronously as they approached an area in which g...
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The Arctic Institute of North America
1983
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ftunivcalgaryojs:oai:journalhosting.ucalgary.ca:article/65343 2023-05-15T14:19:16+02:00 Killer Whales (Orcinus orca) Chasing Gray Whales (Eschrichtius robustus) in the Northern Bering Sea Ljungblad, Donald K. Moore, Sue E. 1983-01-01 application/pdf https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/65343 eng eng The Arctic Institute of North America https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/65343/49257 https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/65343 ARCTIC; Vol. 36 No. 4 (1983): December: 311–395; 361-364 1923-1245 0004-0843 Animal behaviour Gray whales Killer whales Bering Sea St. Lawrence Island waters Alaska info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion research-article 1983 ftunivcalgaryojs 2022-03-22T21:22:25Z Sixteen killer whales (Orcinus orca) were observed for 90 minutes as they approached and then chased gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus) in the Bering Sea north of St. Lawrence Island, Alaska. The killer whales swam in four discrete lines that blew synchronously as they approached an area in which gray whales were feeding. Once in the gray whales' feeding area, the killer whales broke into small groups and dispersed. The gray whales, which had been dispersed while feeding, formed groups of three to six and swam away from the killer whales, except for one individual. That whale was pursued by four killer whales swimming nearly abreast in a loose crescent formation with about 300 m between individuals. Although a sonobuoy was deployed throughout the observation period, no sounds were recorded from either species. The absence of whale sounds raises questions about how the whales detected one another and communicated between nearby conspecifics.Key words: killer whale (Orcinus orca), gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus), Bering Sea, predator/prey, acoustics Mots clés: épaulard (Orcinus orca), baleine grise de Californie (Eschrichtius robustus), mer de Béring, prédateur/proie, acoustique Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Bering Sea Killer Whale Mer de Béring Orca Orcinus orca St Lawrence Island Alaska épaulard Killer whale University of Calgary Journal Hosting Baleine ENVELOPE(140.012,140.012,-66.649,-66.649) Bering Sea Lawrence Island ENVELOPE(-103.718,-103.718,56.967,56.967) ARCTIC 36 4 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Calgary Journal Hosting |
op_collection_id |
ftunivcalgaryojs |
language |
English |
topic |
Animal behaviour Gray whales Killer whales Bering Sea St. Lawrence Island waters Alaska |
spellingShingle |
Animal behaviour Gray whales Killer whales Bering Sea St. Lawrence Island waters Alaska Ljungblad, Donald K. Moore, Sue E. Killer Whales (Orcinus orca) Chasing Gray Whales (Eschrichtius robustus) in the Northern Bering Sea |
topic_facet |
Animal behaviour Gray whales Killer whales Bering Sea St. Lawrence Island waters Alaska |
description |
Sixteen killer whales (Orcinus orca) were observed for 90 minutes as they approached and then chased gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus) in the Bering Sea north of St. Lawrence Island, Alaska. The killer whales swam in four discrete lines that blew synchronously as they approached an area in which gray whales were feeding. Once in the gray whales' feeding area, the killer whales broke into small groups and dispersed. The gray whales, which had been dispersed while feeding, formed groups of three to six and swam away from the killer whales, except for one individual. That whale was pursued by four killer whales swimming nearly abreast in a loose crescent formation with about 300 m between individuals. Although a sonobuoy was deployed throughout the observation period, no sounds were recorded from either species. The absence of whale sounds raises questions about how the whales detected one another and communicated between nearby conspecifics.Key words: killer whale (Orcinus orca), gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus), Bering Sea, predator/prey, acoustics Mots clés: épaulard (Orcinus orca), baleine grise de Californie (Eschrichtius robustus), mer de Béring, prédateur/proie, acoustique |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Ljungblad, Donald K. Moore, Sue E. |
author_facet |
Ljungblad, Donald K. Moore, Sue E. |
author_sort |
Ljungblad, Donald K. |
title |
Killer Whales (Orcinus orca) Chasing Gray Whales (Eschrichtius robustus) in the Northern Bering Sea |
title_short |
Killer Whales (Orcinus orca) Chasing Gray Whales (Eschrichtius robustus) in the Northern Bering Sea |
title_full |
Killer Whales (Orcinus orca) Chasing Gray Whales (Eschrichtius robustus) in the Northern Bering Sea |
title_fullStr |
Killer Whales (Orcinus orca) Chasing Gray Whales (Eschrichtius robustus) in the Northern Bering Sea |
title_full_unstemmed |
Killer Whales (Orcinus orca) Chasing Gray Whales (Eschrichtius robustus) in the Northern Bering Sea |
title_sort |
killer whales (orcinus orca) chasing gray whales (eschrichtius robustus) in the northern bering sea |
publisher |
The Arctic Institute of North America |
publishDate |
1983 |
url |
https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/65343 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(140.012,140.012,-66.649,-66.649) ENVELOPE(-103.718,-103.718,56.967,56.967) |
geographic |
Baleine Bering Sea Lawrence Island |
geographic_facet |
Baleine Bering Sea Lawrence Island |
genre |
Arctic Bering Sea Killer Whale Mer de Béring Orca Orcinus orca St Lawrence Island Alaska épaulard Killer whale |
genre_facet |
Arctic Bering Sea Killer Whale Mer de Béring Orca Orcinus orca St Lawrence Island Alaska épaulard Killer whale |
op_source |
ARCTIC; Vol. 36 No. 4 (1983): December: 311–395; 361-364 1923-1245 0004-0843 |
op_relation |
https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/65343/49257 https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/65343 |
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ARCTIC |
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36 |
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