Killer whale call frequency is similar across the oceans, but varies across sympatric ecotypes

Killer whale populations may differ in genetics, morphology, ecology, and behavior. In the North Pacific, two sympatric populations ("resident" and "transient") specialize on different prey (fish and marine mammals) and retain reproductive isolation. In the eastern North Atlantic...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
Main Authors: Filatova, Olga A., Miller, Patrick J. O., Yurk, Harald, Samarra, Filipa I. P., Hoyt, Erich, Ford, John K. B., Matkin, Craig O., Barrett-Lennard, Lance G.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2015
Subjects:
ORCINUS-ORCA LINNAEUS
BRITISH-COLUMBIA
NORTHERN NORWAY
DISCRETE CALLS
AVACHA GULF
BIRD SONG
POPULATIONS
BEHAVIOR
WATERS
SOUND
Avacha
Norway
Pacific
Killer Whale
North Atlantic
Northern Norway
Orca
Orcinus orca
Killer whale
Online Access:https://research-portal.st-andrews.ac.uk/en/publications/ab2ce9c4-5435-49a7-9eb4-2852f6438872
https://doi.org/10.1121/1.4922704
Description
Summary:Killer whale populations may differ in genetics, morphology, ecology, and behavior. In the North Pacific, two sympatric populations ("resident" and "transient") specialize on different prey (fish and marine mammals) and retain reproductive isolation. In the eastern North Atlantic, whales from the same populations have been observed feeding on both fish and marine mammals. Fish-eating North Pacific "residents" are more genetically related to eastern North Atlantic killer whales than to sympatric mammal-eating "transients." In this paper, a comparison of frequency variables in killer whale calls recorded from four North Pacific resident, two North Pacific transient, and two eastern North Atlantic populations is reported to assess which factors drive the large-scale changes in call structure. Both low-frequency and high-frequency components of North Pacific transient killer whale calls have significantly lower frequencies than those of the North Pacific resident and North Atlantic populations. The difference in frequencies could be related to ecological specialization or to the phylogenetic history of these populations. North Pacific transient killer whales may have genetically inherited predisposition toward lower frequencies that may shape their learned repertoires. (C) 2015 Acoustical Society of America.

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