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Prey selection of offshore killer whales Orcinus orca in the Northeast Atlantic in late summer : spatial associations with mackerel

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Bernasconi_2014_MEPS_Prey.pdf (1.371Mb)
Date
03/03/2014
Author
Nøttestad, L.
Sivle, L.D.
Krafft, B.A.
Langård, L.
Anthonypillai, V.
Bernasconi, M.
Langøy, H.
Fernö, A.
Keywords
Feeding ecology
Spatial overlap
Northeast Atlantic mackerel
Norwegian spring-spawning herring
QH301 Biology
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Abstract
The traditional perception of prey species preference of killer whales Orcinus orca L. in the Northeast Atlantic has, to a large extent, been linked to herring Clupea harengus L. Few studies have investigated the feeding ecology of killer whales from the offshore parts of this ecosystem. We conducted 2 summer-season ecosystem-based surveys in the Norwegian Sea, when it is most crucial for these animals to build up their energy reserves, using observational, acoustic, oceanographic, plankton net, and pelagic trawl haul data to quantify any spatial overlap between killer whales and the 3 most common and abundant pelagic fish species: herring, mackerel Scomber scombrus L., and blue whiting Micromesistius poutassou R. No spatial relationships were found between killer whales and herring or blue whiting. However, there was a significant relationship and spatial overlap between killer whales and mackerel. Feeding on this epipelagic schooling fish species during summer may incur lower migration costs and higher energetic gain than feeding on alternative prey. Killer whale group size was also correlated to the size of mackerel trawl catches, indicating active group size adjustment to available prey concentrations.
Citation
Nøttestad , L , Sivle , L D , Krafft , B A , Langård , L , Anthonypillai , V , Bernasconi , M , Langøy , H & Fernö , A 2014 , ' Prey selection of offshore killer whales Orcinus orca in the Northeast Atlantic in late summer : spatial associations with mackerel ' , Marine Ecology Progress Series , vol. 499 , pp. 275-283 . https://doi.org/10.3354/meps10638
Publication
Marine Ecology Progress Series
Status
Peer reviewed
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3354/meps10638
ISSN
0171-8630
Type
Journal article
Rights
© The authors 2014. Open Access under Creative Commons by Attribution Licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/). Use, distribution and reproduction are unrestricted. Authors and original publication must be credited.
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  • University of St Andrews Research
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10023/5355

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