Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The function of multi-pod aggregations of fish-eating killer whales (Orcinus orca) in Kamchatka, Far East Russia

  • Article
  • Published:
Journal of Ethology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In fish-eating North Pacific killer whales, large multi-pod aggregations of up to 100 animals often occur. These aggregations are thought to be reproductive gatherings where mating between members of different pods takes place. However, killer whales are social animals, and the role of these aggregations might also be establishing and maintaining social bonds between pods. Alternatively, it is also possible that multi-pod aggregations are in some way connected with foraging or searching for fish. In this study of killer whales in the western North Pacific, we describe multi-pod aggregations quantitatively and suggest their functional role in the life of fish-eating killer whales. We show that foraging is rare in multi-pod aggregations, whether inter-clan or intra-clan, and thus they are unlikely to play an important role in cooperative foraging. Socialising occurs more frequently in inter-clan rather than in intra-clan aggregations, which suggests the higher arousal level and possible mating during inter-clan aggregations. In summary, multi-pod aggregations of Kamchatka killer whales might be both reproductive assemblages and “clubs” of some kind in which whales gather to establish and maintain social bonds.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Alexander RD (1974) The evolution of social behaviour. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 5:325–383

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baird RW (2001) Status of killer whales in Canada. Can Field Nat 115:676–701

    Google Scholar 

  • Baird RW (2002) Killer whales of the world: natural history and conservation. Voyageur Press, Stillwater

    Google Scholar 

  • Baird RW, Dill LM (1995) Occurence and behaviour of transient killer whales: seasonal and pod-specific variability, foraging behaviour, and prey handling. Can J Zool 73:1300–1311

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baird RW, Dill LM (1996) Ecological and social determinants of group size in transient killer whales. Behav Ecol 7:408–416

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baird RW, Whitehead H (2000) Social organization of mammal-eating killer whales: group stability and dispersal patterns. Can J Zool 78:2096–2105

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barrett-Lennard LG, Ford JKB, Heise K (1996) The mixed blessing of echolocation: differences in sonar use by fish-eating and mammal-eating killer whales. Anim Behav 51:553–565

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barrett-Lennard LG (2000) Population structure and mating patterns of killer whales (Orcinus orca) as revealed by DNA analysis. PhD thesis, University of British Columbia, Vancouver

  • Bigg MA, MacAskie I, Ellis G (1983) Photo-identification of individual killer whales. Whalewatcher 17:3–5

    Google Scholar 

  • Bigg MA, Ellis GM, Ford JKB, Balcomb KC (1987) Killer whales—a study of their identification, genealogy and natural history in British Columbia and Washington State. Phantom Press, Nanaimo

    Google Scholar 

  • Bigg MA, Olesiuk PF, Ellis GM, Ford JKB, Balcomb KC (1990) Social organization and genealogy of resident killer whales (Orcinus orca) in the coastal waters of British Columbia and Washington State. Rep Int Whale Comm Spec Issue 12:383–405

    Google Scholar 

  • Burdin AM, Hoyt E, Sato H, Filatova OA, Tarasyan KK (2004) Resident and transient-type killer whales, Orcinus orca, in southeast Kamchatka, Russia. IWC Scientific Committee (SC/56/SM15)

  • Burdin AM, Hoyt E, Filatova OA, Ivkovich TV, Tarasyan KK, Sato H (2007) Status of killer whales (Orcinus orca) in Eastern Kamchatka (Russian Far East) based on photo-identification and acoustic studies. Preliminary results. IWC Scientific Committee (SC/59/SM4)

  • Connor RC (2007) Dolphin social intelligence: complex alliance relationships in bottlenose dolphins and a consideration of selective environments for extreme brain size evolution in mammals. Philos Trans R Soc B 362:587–602. doi:10.1098/rstb.2006.1997

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Connor RC, Mann J, Watson-Capps J (2006a) A sex-specific affiliative contact behavior in Indian Ocean bottlenose dolphins, Tursiops sp. Ethology 112:631–638. doi:10.1111/j.1439-0310.2006.01203.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Connor RC, Smolker RA, Bejder L (2006b) Synchrony, social behaviour and alliance affiliation in Indian Ocean bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus). Anim Behav 72:1371–1378. doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2006.03.014

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Creel S, Creel NM (1995) Communal hunting and pack size in African wild dogs, Lycaon pictus. Anim Behav 50(5):1325–1339

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Domenici P, Batty RS, Simila T, Ogam E (2000) Killer Whales (Orcinus orca) feeding on schooling herring (Clupea harengus) using underwater tail-slaps: kinematic analyses of field observations. J Exp Biol 203:283–294

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Estes RD, Goddard J (1967) Prey selection and hunting behavior of the African wild dog. J Wildl Manage 31(1):52–70. doi:10.2307/3798360

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Filatova OA, Burdin AM, Hoyt E, Sato H (2003) Vocal dialects in killer whales of eastern Kamchatka peninsula, Russia. In: Proceedings of 15th Biennial conference, Society of Marine Mammalogy, Greensboro, NC, USA, p 51

  • Filatova OA, Burdin AM, Hoyt E, Sato H (2004) A catalogue of discrete calls of resident killer whales (Orcinus orca) from the Avacha Gulf of Kamchatka peninsula. Zoologicheskyi J (J Zool) 83:1169–1180 (in Russian with English abstract)

    Google Scholar 

  • Filatova OA, Burdin AM, Hoyt E (2006) Estimating the status and population structure of killer whales (Orcinus orca) from Avacha Gulf, Kamchatka using vocal dialects. In: Proceedings of the 4th biennial conference marine mammals of Holarctic, St. Petersburg, Russia, pp 538–540

  • Filatova OA, Fedutin ID, Burdin AM, Hoyt E (2007) The structure of the discrete call repertoire of killer whales Orcinus orca from Southeast Kamchatka. Bioacoustics 16(3):261–280

    Google Scholar 

  • Ford JKB (1989) Acoustic behavior of resident killer whales (Orcinus orca) off Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Can J Zool 67:727–745

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ford JKB (1991) Vocal traditions among resident killer whales (Orcinus orca) in coastal waters of British Columbia. Can J Zool 69:1454–1483

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ford JKB, Ellis GM, Barrett-Lennard LG, Morton AB, Palm RS, Balcomb KC (1998) Dietary specialization in two sympatric populations of killer whales (Orcinus orca) in coastal British Columbia and adjacent waters. Can J Zool 76:1456–1471

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ford JKB, Ellis GM (2002) Reassessing the social organization of resident killer whales in British Columbia. In: Proc of the 4th international orca symposium and workshop, pp 72–74

  • Ford JKB, Ellis GM (2006) Selective foraging by fish-eating killer whales (Orcinus orca) in British Columbia. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 316:185–199

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Giraldeau L-A, Caraco T (2000) Social foraging theory. Princeton University Press, Princeton

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoelzel AR (1993) Foraging behavior and social group dynamics in Puget Sound killer whales. Anim Behav 45:581–591

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoelzel AR (1994) Genetics and ecology of whales and dolphins. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 25:377–399. doi:10.1146/annurev.es.25.110194.002113

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ivkovich TV (2006) Population structure of killer whales (Orcinus orca) in Avacha Gulf. M.Sc. thesis, St. Petersburg State University, Russia

  • Ivkovich TV, Burdin AM, Sato H, Hoyt E (2007) Towards an understanding of the population structure of the killer whales (Orcinus orca) of Avacha gulf (Kamchatka, Russia, Northwest Pacific). In: 21st Conference of the European cetacean society, San Sebastián, Spain

  • Landeau L, Terborgh J (1986) Oddity and the “confusion effect” in predation. Anim Behav 34:146–153

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lehner PN (1996) Handbook of ethological methods. Cambridge University Press, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Matkin CO, Matkin DR, Ellis GM, Saulitis E, McSweeney D (1997) Movements of resident killer whales in southeastern Alaska and Prince William Sound, Alaska. Mar Mamm Sci 13:469–475. doi:10.1111/j.1748-7692.1997.tb00653.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Matkin CO, Ellis G, Olesiuk P, Saulitis E (1999) Association patterns and inferred genealogies of resident killer whales, Orcinus orca, in Prince William Sound, Alaska. Fish Bull 97:900–919

    Google Scholar 

  • Milinski M (1977) Do all members of a swarm suffer the same predation? Z Tierpsychol 45:373–388

    Google Scholar 

  • Morton AB (1990) A quantitative comparison of the behaviour of resident and transient forms of the killer whale off the central British Columbia coast. Rep Int Whale Comm Spec Issue 12:245–250

    Google Scholar 

  • Rose NA (1992) The social dynamics of male killer whales, Orcinus orca, in Johnstone Strait, British Columbia. PhD thesis, University of California, Santa Cruz

  • Sakai M, Hishii T, Takeda S, Kohshima S (2006) Flipper rubbing behaviors in wild bottlenose dolphins (Turiops aduncus). Mar Mamm Sci 22:966–978. doi:10.1111/j.1748-7692.2006.00082.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saulitis E, Matkin CO, Barrett-Lennard LG, Heise K, Ellis G (2000) Foraging strategies of sympatric killer whale (Orcinus orca) populations in Prince William Sound, Alaska. Mar Mamm Sci 16:94–109

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Similä T, Ugarte F (1993) Surface and underwater observation of cooperatively feeding killer whales in Northern Norway. Can J Zool 71:1494–1499

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Simon M, Ugarte F, Wahlberg M, Miller LA (2006) Icelandic killer whales Orcinus orca use a pulsed call suitable for manipulating the schooling behaviour of herring Clupea harengus. Bioacoustics 16:57–74

    Google Scholar 

  • Tarasyan KK, Filatova OA, Burdin AM, Hoyt E, Sato H (2005) Keys for the status of killer whales in Eastern Kamchatka, Russia: foraging ecology and acoustic behaviour. Biosph Conserv 6:73–83

    Google Scholar 

  • Walker LA, Cornell L, Dahl KD, Czekala NM, Dargen CM, Joseph B, Hsueh AJW, Lasley BL (1988) Urinary concentrations of ovarian steroid hormone metabolites and bioactive folicle-stimulating hormone in killer whales (Orcinus orca) during ovarian cycles and pregnancy. Biol Reprod 39:1013–1020

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Würsig B (1986) Delphinid foraging strategies. In: Schusterman RJ (ed) Dolphin cognition and behavior: a comparative approach. Lawrence Erlbaum, Hillsdale, pp 347–359

    Google Scholar 

  • Würsig B, Würsig M (1980) Behavior and ecology of the dusky dolphin, Lagenorhynchus obscurus, in the south Atlantic. Fish Bull 77:871–890

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by WDCS, the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, the Humane Society of the United States, the Sacher Trusts, the Klüh Prize, the Animal Welfare Institute and the Rufford Maurice Laing Foundation. We are grateful to many people who have helped us in this study: Ilya Shevchenko, Evgenia Lazareva, Alexandr Volkov, Karina Tarasyan, Mikhail Kislin, Vladimir Konoplev, Egor Aksenov and Julia Zakharova.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Vertebrate Zoology, Faculty of Biology, Moscow State University, Vorobiovy gory, 1/12, 119992, Moscow, Russia

    Olga A. Filatova & Mikhail M. Nagaylik

  2. Central Forest State Nature Reserve, Tver, Russia

    Ivan D. Fedutin

  3. Department of Vertebrate Zoology, Faculty of Biology, St Petersburg State University, St Petersburg, Russia

    Tatyana V. Ivkovich

  4. Alaska SeaLife Center, Seward, AK, USA

    Alexandr M. Burdin

  5. Kamchatka Branch of the Pacific Institute of Geography RAS, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy, Russia

    Alexandr M. Burdin

  6. Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, North Berwick, Scotland, UK

    Erich Hoyt

Authors
  1. Olga A. Filatova
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ivan D. Fedutin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Tatyana V. Ivkovich
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Mikhail M. Nagaylik
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Alexandr M. Burdin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Erich Hoyt
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Olga A. Filatova.

About this article

Cite this article

Filatova, O.A., Fedutin, I.D., Ivkovich, T.V. et al. The function of multi-pod aggregations of fish-eating killer whales (Orcinus orca) in Kamchatka, Far East Russia. J Ethol 27, 333–341 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10164-008-0124-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10164-008-0124-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation