Mammal‐eating killer whales, industrial whaling, and the sequential megafaunal collapse in the North Pacific Ocean: A reply to critics of Springer et al. 2003

Winter observations of a group of female and immature sperm whales in the high-latitude waters near the Aleutian Islands, Alaska

“…A relatively high abundance of mammal-eating 'transient' killer whales regularly use the coastal waters of the Aleutian Islands during summer (Zerbini et al, 2007;Durban et al, 2010); although their relative winter abundance is unknown. Springer et al ( , 2008 have suggested an increase in killer whales in coastal waters of the far North Pacific in recent decades, similar to that which has been documented in the coastal north-eastern Pacific (Ford et al, 2007), which may represent a strong selective force on the distribution of vulnerable sperm whale mixed schools (Pitman et al, 2001). If this is the case, presumably adult males are large enough to avoid much predation risk, or have other social and feeding constraints against forming large groups.…”

Interactions between Leatherback Turtles and Killer Whales in Namibian Waters, Including Possible Predation

“…The chance of observing a predation event in the wild is very low, even if they occur frequently (Springer et al 2008). It is thus of note that of the seven observations of killer whales in the Walvis Bay area made during the warmer summer months (Nov-Mar), predation (or at the very least harassment) of leatherback turtles has been seen twice.…”

Scientific inference and experiment in Ecosystem Based Fishery Management, with application to Steller sea lions in the Bering Sea and Western Gulf of Alaska

“…IV. Enhanced depredation by killer whales or sharks (also see [14,15]). V. Disease or pathogen outbreaks.…”