Prey-induced behavioural plasticity of herring-eating killer whales

F.I.P. Samarra; P.J.O. Miller

doi:10.1007/s00227-015-2626-8

Prey-induced behavioural plasticity of herring-eating killer whales

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Behavioural plasticity of top marine predators to adapt to seasonal changes in the behaviour of their prey is little understood. Here, we used data from 16 multi-sensor archival tags attached to killer whales in 2005, 2006 and 2009 to evaluate whether and how their feeding behaviour varied according to seasonal life-stages (overwintering, feeding and spawning) of their herring prey. Feeding periods with tail slaps were consistently characterized by non-directional movement with the production of calls and echolocation clicks, but angular deviation in heading during feeding periods was lower during overwintering than spawning prey life-stages. Tail slaps were produced more often at depths >10 m in the feeding and spawning prey life-stages, while during overwintering, they often occurred at

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	809-821
Journal	Marine Biology
Volume	162
Issue number	4
Early online date	12 Feb 2015
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-015-2626-8
Publication status	Published - Apr 2015

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abstract = "Behavioural plasticity of top marine predators to adapt to seasonal changes in the behaviour of their prey is little understood. Here, we used data from 16 multi-sensor archival tags attached to killer whales in 2005, 2006 and 2009 to evaluate whether and how their feeding behaviour varied according to seasonal life-stages (overwintering, feeding and spawning) of their herring prey. Feeding periods with tail slaps were consistently characterized by non-directional movement with the production of calls and echolocation clicks, but angular deviation in heading during feeding periods was lower during overwintering than spawning prey life-stages. Tail slaps were produced more often at depths >10 m in the feeding and spawning prey life-stages, while during overwintering, they often occurred at",

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AU - Miller, P.J.O.

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N2 - Behavioural plasticity of top marine predators to adapt to seasonal changes in the behaviour of their prey is little understood. Here, we used data from 16 multi-sensor archival tags attached to killer whales in 2005, 2006 and 2009 to evaluate whether and how their feeding behaviour varied according to seasonal life-stages (overwintering, feeding and spawning) of their herring prey. Feeding periods with tail slaps were consistently characterized by non-directional movement with the production of calls and echolocation clicks, but angular deviation in heading during feeding periods was lower during overwintering than spawning prey life-stages. Tail slaps were produced more often at depths >10 m in the feeding and spawning prey life-stages, while during overwintering, they often occurred at

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JO - Marine Biology

JF - Marine Biology

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Prey-induced behavioural plasticity of herring-eating killer whales

Abstract

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