Epizoic barnacles on Arctic killer whales indicate residency in warm waters

Matthews, Cory J. D.; Ghazal, Maha; Lefort, Kyle J.; Inuarak, Enookie

doi:10.1111/mms.12674

Cited by 9 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 17 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…This result provides, for the first time, quantitative support to the long-standing claim that X. globicipitis recruits in temperate and tropical regions [e.g. 25 , 35 , 125 ]. Therefore, its populations are probably maintained by cetaceans permanently living in temperate and tropical waters.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 80%

“…Finally, coronulid barnacles, and especially X. globicipitis , could shed additional light on wintering areas and the timing of migrations. Interestingly, we observed that these barnacles tend to co-occur in the same whales, which suggests that there are ‘hot spots’ for recruitment of these species at low latitudes, as Dreyer et al 128 recently suggested [see also 25 , 129 ]. In the case of X. globicipitis , our results also reveal an area of higher probability of cetacean colonization within 50°N-40°S, especially in regions where minimum SST is 15-20 °C.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 63%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Epibiotic fauna of the Antarctic minke whale as a reliable indicator of seasonal movements

Ten

Konishi²,

Raga

et al. 2022

Sci Rep

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Antarctic minke whales, Balaenoptera bonaerensis, breed in tropical and temperate waters of the Southern Hemisphere in winter and feed in Antarctic grounds in the austral summer. These seasonal migrations could be less defined than those of other whale species, but the evidence is scanty. We quantitatively describe the epibiotic fauna of Antarctic minke whales and explore its potential to trace migrations. Seven species were found on 125 out of 333 examined Antarctic minke whales captured during the last Antarctic NEWREP-A expedition in the Southern Ocean: the amphipod Balaenocyamus balaenopterae (prevalence = 22.2%), the copepod Pennella balaenoptera (0.6%); three coronulid, obligate barnacles, Xenobalanus globicipitis (11.1%), Coronula reginae (8.7%), C. diadema (0.9%); and two lepadid, facultative barnacles, Conchoderma auritum (9.0%) and C. virgatum (0.3%). Species with prevalence > 8% exhibited a modest increase in their probability of occurrence with whale body length. Data indicated positive associations between coronulid barnacles and no apparent recruitment in Antarctic waters. All specimens of X. globicipitis were dead, showing progressive degradation throughout the sampling period, and a geographic analysis indicated a marked drop of occurrence where the minimum sea surface temperature is < 12 °C. Thus, field detection -with non-lethal methodologies, such as drones- of coronulid barnacles, especially X. globicipitis, on whales in the Southern Ocean could evince seasonal migration. Future investigations on geographical distribution, growth rate, and degradation (for X. globicipitis) could also assist in timing whales’ migration.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 80%

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 63%

Epibiotic fauna of the Antarctic minke whale as a reliable indicator of seasonal movements

Ten

Konishi²,

Raga

et al. 2022

Sci Rep

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…However, we note that remains of both minke whales and seals have been recovered from stomachs of killer whales off Newfoundland [ 23 ], and that seasonally-biased observations of predation [ 72 ] may not describe the full dietary breadth of killer whales. This is certain for killer whales observed in the Arctic during the relatively short open-water season, as the distributions of their Arctic marine mammal prey do not extend to the more southern limits of their range (see [ 73 , 74 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Amino acid δ15N differences consistent with killer whale ecotypes in the Arctic and Northwest Atlantic

2021

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Ecotypes are groups within a species with different ecological adaptations than their conspecifics. Eastern North Pacific (ENP) killer whale (Orcinus orca) ecotypes differ in their diet, behavior, and morphology, but the same is not known for this species in the eastern Canadian Arctic (ECA) and Northwest Atlantic (NWA). Using compound-specific stable isotope analysis (CSIA) of amino acids (AAs), we compared δ15N patterns of the primary trophic and source AA pair, glutamic acid/glutamine (Glx) and phenylalanine (Phe), in dentine collagen of (1) sympatric ENP killer whale ecotypes with well-characterized diet differences and (2) ECA/NWA killer whales with unknown diets. δ15NGlx-Phe was significantly higher in the ENP fish-eating (FE) than mammal-eating (ME) ecotype (19.2 ± 0.4‰ vs. 13.5 ± 0.7‰, respectively). Similar bimodal variation in δ15NGlx-Phe indicated analogous dietary divisions among ECA/NWA killer whales, with two killer whales having higher δ15NGlx-Phe (16.5 ± 0.0‰) than the others (13.5 ± 0.6‰). Inferences of dietary divisions between these killer whales were supported by parallel differences in threonine δ15N (–33.5 ± 1.6‰ and –40.4 ± 1.1‰, respectively), given the negative correlation between δ15NThr and TP across a range of marine consumers. CSIA-AA results for ECA/NWA whales, coupled with differences in tooth wear (a correlate for diet), are consistent with ecotype characteristics reported in ENP and other killer whale populations, thus adding to documented ecological divergence in this species worldwide.

show abstract

“…Future work should also include comparing this recorded repertoire to other acoustic recordings of killer whales from the North Atlantic to determine an origin for the killer whales traveling to the eastern Canadian Arctic in the summer. Satellite tracking studies to date have not been able to determine wintering grounds, however a 2019 discovery of epizoic barnacles attached to the killer whales in Milne Inlet suggested a migration through more tropical low-latitude waters (Matthews et al, 2020b).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Killer Whale (Orcinus orca) Pulsed Calls in the Eastern Canadian Arctic

Sportelli¹,

Jones²,

Frasier³

et al. 2022

ARCTIC

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Killer whales (Orcinus orca) produce a variety of acoustic signal types used for communication: clicks, whistles, and pulsed calls. Discrete pulsed calls are highly stereotyped, repetitive, and unique to individual pods found around the world. Discriminating amongst pod specific calls can help determine population structure in killer whales and is used to track pod movements around oceans. Killer whale presence in the Canadian Arctic has increased substantially, but we have limited understanding of their ecology, movements, and stock identity. Two autonomous passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) hydrophones were deployed in the waters of Eclipse Sound and Milne Inlet, in northern Baffin Island, Nunavut, Canada, in August and September 2017. Eleven killer whale pulsed call types, three multiphonic and eight monophonic, are proposed and described using manual whistle contour extraction and feature normalization. Automated detection of echolocation clicks between 20 and 48 kHz demonstrated little to no overlap between killer whale calls and echolocation presumed to be narwhal, which suggests that narwhal remain audibly inconspicuous when killer whales are present. Describing the acoustic repertoire of killer whales seasonally present in the Canadian Arctic will aid in understanding their acoustic behaviour, seasonal movements, and ecological impacts. The calls described here provide a basis for future acoustic comparisons across the North Atlantic and aid in characterizing killer whale demographics and ecology, particularly for pods making seasonal incursions into Arctic waters.

show abstract

Epizoic barnacles on Arctic killer whales indicate residency in warm waters

Cited by 9 publications

References 17 publications

Epibiotic fauna of the Antarctic minke whale as a reliable indicator of seasonal movements

Epibiotic fauna of the Antarctic minke whale as a reliable indicator of seasonal movements

Amino acid δ15N differences consistent with killer whale ecotypes in the Arctic and Northwest Atlantic

Killer Whale (Orcinus orca) Pulsed Calls in the Eastern Canadian Arctic

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About