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Whistle communication in mammal-eating killer whales (Orcinus orca): further evidence for acoustic divergence between ecotypes

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Abstract

Public signaling plays an important role in territorial and sexual displays in animals; however, in certain situations, it is advantageous to keep signaling private to prevent eavesdropping by unintended receivers. In the northeastern Pacific, two populations of killer whales (Orcinus orca), fish-eating “resident” killer whales and mammal-eating “transient” killer whales, share the same habitat. Previous studies have shown that residents use whistles as private signals during close-range communication, where they probably serve to coordinate behavioral interactions. Here, we investigated the whistling behavior of mammal-eating killer whales, and, based on divergent social structures and social behaviors between residents and transients, we predicted to find differences in both whistle usage and whistle parameters. Our results show that, like resident killer whales, transients produce both variable and stereotyped whistles. However, clear differences in whistle parameters between ecotypes show that the whistle repertoire of mammal-eating killer whales is clearly distinct from and less complex than that of fish-eating killer whales. Furthermore, mammal-eating killer whales only produce whistles during “milling after kill” and “surface-active” behaviors, but are almost completely silent during all other activities. Nonetheless, whistles of transient killer whales may still serve a role similar to that of resident killer whales. Mammal-eating killer whales seem to be under strong selection to keep their communication private from potential prey (whose hearing ranges overlap with that of killer whales), and they appear to accomplish this mainly by restricting vocal activity rather than by changes in whistle parameters.

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Acknowledgments

We thank N. A. Black, D. R. Matkin, G. M. Ellis, B. Ford, J. K. B. Ford, P. D. Goley, J. K. Jacobsen, A. B. Morton, R. Palm, and P. Spong for providing additional recordings of transient killer whales. D. H. Chadwick, M. deRoos, B. Gisborne, F. Nicklin, and P. A. Presi provided essential help with the fieldwork, and V. Livaditis helped with the analysis of focal follows. We are grateful to G. M. Ellis for his help with all aspects of this study, especially for supplying information on the identity of killer whale groups. L. G. Barrett-Lennard, J. and M. Borrowman, John K.B. Ford, C. O. Matkin, D. R. Matkin, J. M. Straley, as well as the staff of Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve provided valuable logistic support. We thank R. Martin (trial run), and E. Hassell, J. Heinen, and K. Quigley for participation in the interobserver reliability study. Two anonymous reviewers greatly helped improved previous versions of the manuscript with their comments and suggestions. All research was conducted under valid research permits from the US National Marine Fisheries Service (permits no. 545-1488-02 and 473 1433 04), Fisheries and Oceans Canada (Marine Mammal Licence 2006-19), and Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve (permit no. GLBA 00016). The fieldwork was funded by the Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Centre, BC Wild Killer Whale Adoption Program, as well as National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, and North Pacific Marine Science Foundation through the North Pacific Universities Marine Mammal Consortium.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Zoology, University of Oklahoma, 730 Van Vleet Oval, Norman, OK, 73019, USA

    Rüdiger Riesch

  2. Department of Biology & W. M. Keck Center for Behavioral Biology, North Carolina State University, 127 David Clark Labs, Raleigh, NC, 27695-7617, USA

    Rüdiger Riesch

  3. Sea Mammal Research Unit, Scottish Oceans Institute, University of St. Andrews, St. Andrews, Fife, KY16 8LB, Scotland, UK

    Volker B. Deecke

  4. Cetacean Research Laboratory, Vancouver Aquarium, PO Box 3232, Vancouver, BC, V6B 3X8, Canada

    Volker B. Deecke

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  1. Rüdiger Riesch
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Correspondence to Rüdiger Riesch.

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Communicated by G. Jones

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Riesch, R., Deecke, V.B. Whistle communication in mammal-eating killer whales (Orcinus orca): further evidence for acoustic divergence between ecotypes. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 65, 1377–1387 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-011-1148-8

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