Occurrence of killer whale Orcinus orca rake marks on Eastern Canada-West Greenland bowhead whales Balaena mysticetus

详细信息    查看全文

• 作者：N. R. Reinhart (1) (2)
  S. H. Ferguson (3) (4)
  W. R. Koski (5)
  J. W. Higdon (6)
  B. LeBlanc (3)
  O. Tervo (7)
  P. D. Jepson (2)
  
• 关键词：Eastern Canadian Arctic ; Bowhead whale ; Killer whale ; Population recovery ; Predation ; Rake marks
• 刊名：Polar Biology
• 出版年：2013
• 出版时间：July 2013
• 年：2013
• 卷：36
• 期：8
• 页码：1133-1146
• 全文大小：636KB
• 参考文献：1. Albert TF, Migaki G, Casey HW, Philo LM (1980) Healed penetrating injury of a bowhead whale. Mar Fish Rev 42:92-6
  2. Barrett-Lennard LG, Heise KA (2006) The natural history and ecology of killer whales. In: Estes JA, DeMaster DP, Doak DF, Williams TM, Brownell RL Jr (eds) Whales, whaling and ocean ecosystems. University of California Press, Berkley, pp 161-71
  3. Barrett-Lennard LG, Matkin CO, Durban JW, Saulitis EL, Ellifrit D (2011) Predation on gray whales and prolonged feeding on submerged carcasses by transient killer whales at Unimak Island, Alaska. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 421:229-41. doi:10.3354/meps08906 CrossRef
  4. Blackmer AL, Anderson SK, Weinrich MT (2000) Temporal variability in features used to photo-identify humpback whales ( / Megaptera novaeangliae). Mar Mamm Sci 16(2):338-54. doi:10.1111/j.1748-7692.2000.tb00929 CrossRef
  5. Cosens SE, Blouw A (2003) Size- and age-class segregation of bowhead whales summering in northern Foxe Basin: a photogrammetric analysis. Mar Mamm Sci 19(2):284-96. doi:10.1111/j.1748-7692.2003.tb01109 CrossRef
  6. COSEWIC (2009) COSEWIC assessment and update status report on the bowhead whale / Balaena mysticetus Bering-Chukchi-Beaufort population, Eastern Canada-West Greenland population in Canada. Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. Ottawa, Canada
  7. De Bruyn PJN, Tosh CA, Terauds A (2012) Killer whale ecotypes: is there a global model? Biol Rev 88:62-0. doi:10.1111/j.1469-185X.2012.00239 CrossRef
  8. DFO (2008) Assessment of eastern Arctic bowhead whales ( / Balaena mysticetus). DFO Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat Science Advisory Report 2007/053
  9. Dolphin WF (1987) Observations of humpback whale, / Megaptera novaeangliae—killer whale, / Orcinus orca, interactions in Alaska: comparison with terrestrial predator-prey relationships. Can Field-Nat 101(1):70-5
  10. Durban J, Deecke V (2011) How do we study killer whales? J Am Cetacean Soc 40(1):6-4
  11. Dyke AS, Hooper J, Savelle JM (1996) A history of sea ice in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago based on postglacial remains of the bowhead whale ( / Balaena mysticetus). Arctic 49(3):235-55
  12. Estes JA, Tinker MT, Williams TM, Doak DF (1998) Killer whale predation on sea otters linking oceanic and nearshore ecosystems. Science 282:473-76. doi:10.1126/science.282.5388.473 CrossRef
  13. Ferguson SH, Higdon JW, Chmelnitsky EG (2010a) The rise of killer whales as a major Arctic predator. In: Ferguson SH, Loseto LL, Mallory ML (eds) A little less Arctic: top predators in the world’s largest northern inland sea, Hudson Bay. Springer, Heidelberg, pp 117-36. doi:10.1007/978-90-481-9121-5 CrossRef
  14. Ferguson SH, Dueck L, Loseto LL, Luque SP (2010b) Bowhead whale / Balaena mysticetus seasonal selection of sea ice. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 411:285-97. doi:10.3354/meps08652 CrossRef
  15. Ferguson SH, Kingsley MCS, Higdon JW (2012a) Killer whale ( / Orcinus orca) predation in a multi-prey system. Popul Ecol 54(1):31-1. doi:10.1007/s10144-011-0284-3 CrossRef
  16. Ferguson SH, Higdon JW, Westdal KH (2012b) Prey items and predation behavior of killer whales ( / Orcinus orca) in Nunavut, Canada based on Inuit hunter interviews. Aquat Biosyst 8(3). doi:10.1186/2046-9063-8-3
  17. Finley KJ (1990) Isabella Bay, Baffin Island: an important historical and present-day concentration area for the endangered bowhead whale ( / Balaena mysticetus) of the eastern Canadian Arctic. Arctic 43(2):137-52
  18. Finley KJ (2001) Natural history and conservation of the Greenland whale, or bowhead, in the Northwest Atlantic. Arctic 54(1):55-6
  19. Foote AD, Newton J, Piertney SB, Willerslev E, Gilbert MTP (2009) Ecological, morphological and genetic divergence of sympatric North Atlantic killer whale populations. Mol Ecol 18:5207-217. doi:10.1111/j.1365-294X.2009.04407 CrossRef
  20. Ford JKB, Ellis GM (2006) Selective foraging by fish-eating killer whales Orcinus orca in British Columbia. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 316:185-99. doi:10.3354/meps316185
  21. Ford JKB, Reeves RR (2008) Fight or flight: antipredator strategies of baleen whales. Mamm Rev 38(1):50-6. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2907.2008.00118 CrossRef
  22. 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 76:1456-471. doi:10.1139/z98-089
  23. Friday N, Smith TD, Stevick PT, Allen J (2000) Measurement of photographic quality and individual distinctiveness for the photographic identification of humpback whales / Megaptera novaeangliae. Mar Mamm Sci 16(2):355-74. doi:10.1111/j.1748-7692.2000.tb00930 CrossRef
  24. Gagnon AS, Gough WA (2005) Trends in the dates of ice freeze-up and breakup over Hudson Bay, Canada. Arctic 58(4):370-82
  25. George JC (2009) Growth, morphology and energetics of bowhead whales ( / Balaena mysticetus). Thesis, University of Alaska Fairbanks
  26. George JC, Zeh J (2012) Population trend, 1978-004, of Bering-Chukchi-Beaufort bowhead whales ( / Balaena mysticetus). Paper SC/64/AWMP 5 presented to the International Whaling Commission Science Committee, Panama City, Panama, 11-3 June 2012,?3?pp
  27. George JC, Philo LM, Hazard K, Withrow D, Carroll GM, Suydam R (1994) Frequency of killer whale ( / Orcinus orca) attacks and ship collisions based on scarring on bowhead whales ( / Balaena mysticetus) of the Bering-Chukchi-Beaufort Seas stock. Arctic 47(3):247-55
  28. George JC, Bada J, Zeh J, Scott L, Brown SE, O’Hara T, Suydam R (1999) Age and growth estimates of bowhead whales ( / Balaena mysticetus) via aspartic acid racemization. Can J Zool 77(4):571-80. doi:10.1139/z99-015
  29. Gilkinson AK, Pearson HC, Weltz F, Davis RW (2007) Photo-identification of sea otters using nose scars. J Wildl Manag 71(6):2045-051. doi:10.2193/2006-410 CrossRef
  30. Goley PD, Straley JM (1994) Attack on gray whales ( / Eschrichtius robustus) in Monterey Bay, California, by killer whales ( / Orcinus orca) previously identified in Glacier Bay, Alaska. Can J Zool 72(8):1528-530. doi:10.1139/z94-202 CrossRef
  31. Gonzalez N (2001) Inuit traditional ecological knowledge of the Hudson Bay narwhal ( / Tuugaalik) population. Department of Fisheries and Oceans. Iqaluit, Nunavut
  32. Hartwig L (2009) Mapping traditional knowledge related to the identification of ecologically and biologically significant areas in the Beaufort Sea. Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Winnipeg
  33. Heide-J?rgensen MP, Laidre KL, Jensen MV, Dueck L, Postma LD (2006) Dissolving stock discreteness with satellite tracking: bowhead whales in Baffin Bay. Mar Mamm Sci 22(1):34-5 CrossRef
  34. Heide-J?rgensen MP, Laidre K, Borchers D, Samarra F, Stern H (2007) Increasing abundance of bowhead whales in West Greenland. Biol Lett 3:577-80. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2007.0310 CrossRef
  35. Heide-J?rgensen MP, Garde E, Nielsen NH, Andersen ON (2010a) Biological data from the hunt of bowhead whales in West Greenland 2009 and 2010. Paper SC/62/BRG27 presented to the International Whaling Commission Science Committee, Agadir, Morocco, 31 May-1 June 2010, 7 pp
  36. Heide-J?rgensen MP, Laidre KL, Wiig ?, Postma L, Dueck L, Bachmann L (2010b) Large-scale sexual segregation of bowhead whales. Endanger Spec Res 13:73-8. doi:10.3354/esr00315 CrossRef
  37. Higdon JW (2007) Status of knowledge on killer whales ( / Orcinus orca) in the Canadian Arctic. DFO Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat Research Document 2007/048
  38. Higdon JW (2010) Commercial and subsistence harvests of bowhead whales ( / Balaena mysticetus) in eastern Canada and west Greenland. J Cetacean Res Manag 11(2):185-16
  39. Higdon JW, Ferguson SH (2009) Loss of Arctic sea ice causing punctuated change in sightings of killer whales ( / Orcinus orca) over the past century. Ecol Appl 19(5):1365-375. doi:10.1890/07-1941.1 CrossRef
  40. Higdon JW, Ferguson SH (2010) Past, present, and future for bowhead whales ( / Balaena mysticetus) in northwest Hudson Bay. In: Ferguson SH, Loseto LL, Mallory ML (eds) A little less Arctic: top predators in the world’s largest northern inland sea, Hudson Bay. Springer, Heidelberg, pp 159-77. doi:10.1007/978-90-481-9121-5 CrossRef
  41. Higdon JW, Hauser DDW, Ferguson SH (2012a) Killer whales ( / Orcinus orca) in the Canadian Arctic: distribution, prey items, group sizes, and seasonality. Mar Mamm Sci 28(2):E93–E109. doi:10.1111/j.1748-7692.2011.00489 CrossRef
  42. Higdon JW, Byers T, Brown L, Ferguson SH (2012b) Observations of killer whales ( / Orcinus orca) in the Canadian Beaufort Sea. Polar Rec. Available on CJO2012. doi:10.1017/S0032247412000356
  43. Hillman GR, Trask KD, Sweeney KL, Davis AR, Koski WR, Mocklin J, Rugh DJ (2008) Photo-identification software for bowhead whale images. Paper SC/60/BRG24 presented to the International Whaling Commission Science Committee, Santiago, Chile, 1-3 June 2008, 7 pp
  44. I³S Contour (2011) Welcome to I³S: interactive individual identification system. http://www.reijns.com/i3s/index.html. Accessed 29 May 2012
  45. Jefferson TA, Stacey PJ, Baird RW (1991) A review of killer whale interactions with other marine mammals: predation to co-existence. Mamm Rev 21(4):151-80. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2907.1991.tb00291 CrossRef
  46. Koski WR, Ferguson SH (2012) Review of methods for Eastern Canada-West Greenland bowhead whale ( / Balaena mysticetus) population abundance estimation. DFO Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat Research Document 2012/017
  47. Koski WR, Davis RA, Miller GW, Withrow DE (1992) Growth rate of bowhead whales as determined from low-level aerial photography. Rep Int Whal Commn 42:491-99
  48. Koski WR, Davis RA, Miller GW, Withrow DE (1993) Reproduction. In: Burns JJ, Montague JJ, Cowles CJ (eds), The bowhead whale. Spec Publ No 2. Society of Marine Mammal, Lawrence, KS, pp 239-74, 787?pp
  49. Koski WR, George JC, Sheffield G, Galginaitis MS (2005) Subsistence harvests of bowhead whales at Kaktovik, Alaska. J Cetacean Res Manag 7(1):33-8
  50. Koski WR, Zeh J, Mocklin J, Davis AR, Rugh DJ, George JC, Suydam R (2010) Abundance of Bering-Chukchi-Beaufort bowhead whales ( / Balaena mysticetus) in 2004 estimated from photo-identification data. J Cetacean Res Manag 11:89-00
  51. Koski WR, da-Silva CQ, Zeh J, Reeves RR (2013) Evaluation of the potential to use capture-recapture analyses of photographs to estimate the size of the Eastern Canada-West Greenland bowhead whale ( / Balaena mysticetus) population. Can Wildl Biol Manag 2(1):23-5
  52. Laidre KL, Heide-J?rgensen MP, Nielsen TG (2007) Role of the bowhead whale as a predator in West Greenland. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 346:285-97. doi:10.3354/meps06995 CrossRef
  53. Lubetkin SC, Zeh JE, George JC (2012) Statistical modeling of baleen and body length at age in bowhead whales ( / Balaena mysticetus). Can J Zool 90:915-31. doi:10.1139/Z2012-057 CrossRef
  54. Matthews CJD, Ferguson SH (in press) Dietary specialization among eastern Canadian Arctic/Northwest Atlantic killer whales ( / Orcinus orca) inferred from δ¹⁵N and δ¹³C in teeth. J Mar Biol Assoc UK
  55. McSweeney DJ, Baird RW, Mahaffy SD (2007) Site fidelity, associations, and movements of Cuvier’s ( / Ziphius cavirostris) and Blainville’s ( / Mesoplodon densirostris) beaked whales off the island of Hawai’i. Mar Mamm Sci 23(3):666-87. doi:10.1111/j.1748-7692.2007.00135 CrossRef
  56. Mehta AV, Allen JM, Constantine R, Garrigue C, Jann B, Jenner C, Marx MK, Matkin CO, Mattila DK, Minton G, Mizroch SA, Olavarría C, Robbins J, Russell KG, Seton RE, Steiger GH, Víkingsson GA, Wade PR, Witteveen BH, Clapham PJ (2007) Baleen whales are not important as prey for killer whales / Orcinus orca in high-latitude regions. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 348:297-07. doi:10.3354/meps07015 CrossRef
  57. Miller GW, Davis RA, Koski WR, Crone MJ, Rugh DJ, Fraker MA (1992) Calving intervals of bowhead whales—an analysis of photographic data. Rep Int Whal Commn 42:501-06
  58. Mitchell E, Reeves RR (1982) Factors affecting abundance of bowhead whales Balaena mysticetus in the Eastern Arctic of North America, 1915-980. Biol Conserv 22:59-8 CrossRef
  59. Moore SE, Huntington HP (2008) Arctic marine mammals and climate change: impacts and resilience. Ecol Appl 18(2 Suppl):S157–S165. doi:10.1890/06-0571.1 CrossRef
  60. Naessig PJ, Lanyon JM (2004) Levels and probable origin of predatory scarring on humpback whales ( / Megaptera novaeangliae) in east Australian waters. Wildl Res 31(2):163-70. doi:10.1071/WR03086 CrossRef
  61. NWMB (2000) Final report of the Inuit bowhead knowledge study, Nunavut, Canada. Nunavut Wildlife Management Board, Iqaluit, Nunavut
  62. Overpeck JT, Sturm M, Francis JA, Perovich DK, Serreze MC, Benner R, Carmack EC, Chapin FS III, Gerlach SC, Hamilton LC, Hinzman LD, Holland M, Huntington HP, Key JR, Lloyd AH, MacDonald GM, McFadden J, Noone D, Prowse TD, Schlosser P, V?r?smarty C (2005) Arctic system on trajectory to new, seasonally ice-free state. EOS Trans Am Geophys Union 86(34):309-16. doi:10.1029/2005EO340001 CrossRef
  63. Parkinson CL, Cavalieri DJ (2002) A 21-year record of Arctic sea-ice extents and their regional, seasonal and monthly variability and trends. Ann Glaciol 34(1):441-46. doi:10.3189/172756402781817725 CrossRef
  64. Pitman RL (2011) Antarctic killer whales: top of the food chain at the bottom of the world. J Am Cetacean Soc 40(1):39-5
  65. Pitman RL, Ballance LT, Mesnick SI, Chivers SJ (2001) Killer whale predation on sperm whales: observations and implications. Mar Mamm Sci 17(3):494-07 CrossRef
  66. Pitman RL, Fearnbach H, LeDuc R, Gilpatrick JW Jr, Ford JKB, Balance LT (2007) Killer whales preying on a blue whale calf on the Costa Rica Dome: genetics, morphometrics, vocalisations and composition of the group. J Cetacean Res Manag 9(2):151-57
  67. Piugaattuk N (1994) Transcripts IE-303. Archives from the Inullariit Soc, Igloolik Research Centre, Igloolik, Nunavut
  68. Ramírez-Macías D, Meekan M, De La Parra-Venegas R, Remolina-Suárez F, Trigo-Mendoza M, Vázquez-Juárez R (2012) Patterns in composition, abundance and scarring of whale sharks / Rhincodon typus near Holbox Island, Mexico. J Fish Biol 80:1401-416. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8649.2012.03258 CrossRef
  69. Reeves RR, Cosens SE (2003) Historical population characteristics of bowhead whales ( / Balaena mysticetus) in Hudson Bay. Arctic 56(3):283-92
  70. Reeves RR, Mitchell E (1988) Distribution and seasonality of killer whales in the eastern Canadian Arctic. Rit Fiskideildar 11:136-60
  71. Reeves R, Mitchell E, Mansfield A, McLaughlin M (1983) Distribution and migration of the bowhead whale, / Balaena mysticetus, in the eastern North American Arctic. Arctic 36(1):5-4
  72. Reeves RR, Berger J, Clapham PJ (2006) Killer whales as predators of large baleen whales and sperm whales. In: Estes JA, DeMaster DP, Doak DF, Williams TM, Brownell RL Jr (eds) Whales, whaling and ocean ecosystems. University of California Press, Berkley, pp 174-87
  73. Rice DW, Wolman AA, Braham HW (1984) The gray whale / Eschrichtius robustus. Mar Fish Rev 46(4):7-4
  74. Rugh DJ, Braham HW (1992) Methods for photographic identification of bowhead whales / Balaena mysticetus. Can J Zool 70(3):617-24. doi:10.1139/z92-090 CrossRef
  75. Rugh DJ, Zeh JE, Koski WR, Baraff LS, Miller GW, Sheldon KEW (1998) An improved system for scoring photo quality and whale identifiability in aerial photographs of bowhead whales. Rep Int Whal Commn 48:501-12
  76. Schweder T, Sadykova D, Rugh D, Koski W (2010) Population estimates from aerial photographic surveys of naturally and variably marked bowhead whales. J Agric Biol Environ Stat 15(1):1-9. doi:10.1007/s13253-009-0002-1 CrossRef
  77. Sheldon KEW, Rugh DJ, Mahoney BA, Dahlheim ME (2003) Killer whale predation on belugas in Cook Inlet, Alaska: implications for a depleted population. Mar Mamm Sci 19(3):529-44. doi:10.1111/j.1748-7692.2003.tb01319 CrossRef
  78. Simon M, Johnson M, Tyack P, Madsen PT (2009) Behaviour and kinematics of continuous ram filtration in bowhead whales ( / Balaena mysticetus). Proc R Soc Biol Sci 276:3819-828. doi:10.1098/rspb.2009.1135 CrossRef
  79. Speed CW, Meekan MG, Bradshaw CJA (2007) Spot the match—wildlife photo-identification using information theory. Front Zool 4(2). doi:10.1186/1742-9994-4-2
  80. Steiger GH, Calambokidis J, Straley JM, Herman LM, Cerchio S, Salden DR, Urbán-R J, Jacobsen JK, von Ziegesar O, Balcomb KC, Gabriele CM, Dahlheim ME, Uchida S, Ford JKB, Ladrón de Guevara P, Yamaguchi M, Barlow J (2008) Geographic variation in killer whale attacks on humpback whales in the North Pacific: implications for predation pressure. Endanger Spec Res 4:247-56. doi:10.3354/esr00078 CrossRef
  81. Stewart DB, Barber DG (2010) The ocean-sea ice-atmosphere system of the Hudson Bay complex. In: Ferguson SH, Loseto LL, Mallory ML (eds) A little less Arctic: top predators in the world’s largest northern inland sea, Hudson Bay. Springer, Heidelberg, pp 1-7. doi:10.1007/978-90-481-9121-5 CrossRef
  82. Stroeve JC, Serreze MC, Holland MM, Kay JE, Malanik J, Barrett AP (2012) The Arctic’s rapidly shrinking sea ice cover: a research synthesis. Clim Chang 110:1005-027. doi:10.1007/s10584-011-01010-1 CrossRef
  83. Suydam R, George JC (2004) Subsistence harvest of bowhead whales ( / Balaena mysticetus) by Alaskan Eskimos, 1974 to 2003. Paper SC/56/BRG12 presented to the International Whaling Commission Science Committee, Sorrento, Italy, June 2004, 12?pp
  84. Suydam R, George JC, Rosa C, Person B, Hanns C, Sheffield G (2010) Subsistence harvest of bowhead whales ( / Balaena mysticetus) by Alaskan Eskimos during 2009. Paper SC/62/BRG18 presented to the International Whaling Commission?Science Committee, Agadir, Morocco, 31 May-1 June 2010, 7?pp
  85. Suydam R, George JC, Person B, Hanns C, Sheffield G (2011) Subsistence harvest of bowhead whales ( / Balaena mysticetus) by Alaskan Eskimo during 2010. Paper SC/63/BRG2 presented to the International Whaling Commission?Science Committee, Troms?, Norway, 30 May-1 June 2011, 7?pp
  86. Taylor BL, Chivers SJ, Larese J, Perrin WF (2007) Generation length and percent mature estimates for IUCN assessments of cetaceans. Administrative Report LJ-07-01, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, 8604 La Jolla Shores Blvd., La Jolla, CA 92038, USA, 24?pp
  87. Weller DW, Burdin AM, Würsig B, Taylor BL, Brownell RL (2002) The western gray whale: a review of past exploitation, current status and potential threats. J Cetacean Res Manag 4(1):7-2
  88. Wiig ?, Heide-J?rgensen MP, Lindqvist C, Laidre KL, Postma LD, Dueck L, Palsb?ll PJ, Bachmann L (2011) Recaptures of genotyped bowhead whales / Balaena mysticetus in east Canada and West Greenland. Endanger Spec Res 14:235-42. doi:10.3354/esr00365 CrossRef
  89. Würsig B, Jefferson TA (1990) Methods of photo-identification for small cetaceans. Rep Int Whal Commn 12:43-2
  90. Young BG, Higdon JW, Ferguson SH (2011) Killer whale ( / Orcinus orca) photo-identification in the eastern Canadian Arctic. Polar Res 30:7203-209. doi:10.3402/polar.v30i0.7203 CrossRef
  91. Yurkowski DJ, Higdon JW, Ferguson SH (2010) Photo-identification of bowhead whales in Foxe Basin, Nunavut: establishment of calving intervals and population growth rates. Nunavut Wildlife Research Trust Fund, Final Project Report, Project Number 3-09-08
  92. Zeh JE, George JC, Raftery AE, Carroll GM (1991) Rate of increase, 1978-988, of bowhead whales, / Balaena mysticetus, estimated from ice-based census data. Mar Mamm Sci 7(2):105-22. doi:10.1111/j.1748-7692.1991.tb00558 CrossRef
  
• 作者单位：N. R. Reinhart (1) (2)
  S. H. Ferguson (3) (4)
  W. R. Koski (5)
  J. W. Higdon (6)
  B. LeBlanc (3)
  O. Tervo (7)
  P. D. Jepson (2)
  
  1. Royal Veterinary College, Royal College Street, London, NW1 0TU, UK
  2. Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, Regent’s Park, London, NW1 4RY, UK
  3. Fisheries and Oceans Canada, 501 University Crescent, Winnipeg, MB, R3T 2N6, Canada
  4. Department of Environment and Geography, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, R3T 2N6, Canada
  5. LGL Limited, environmental research associates, 22 Fisher Street, Box 280, King City, ON, L7B 1A6, Canada
  6. Higdon Wildlife Consulting, 912 Ashburn Street, Winnipeg, MB, R3G 3C9, Canada
  7. Arctic Station, 3953, Qeqertarsuaq, Greenland, Denmark
  

文摘

Killer whales (Orcinus orca) are increasing in occurrence and residence time in the eastern Canadian Arctic (ECA) in part due to a decrease in sea ice associated with global climate change. Killer whales prey on bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) of the Eastern Canada-West Greenland (EC-WG) population, but their patterns of predation pressure and effect on the EC-WG population’s ability to recover from historical whaling remain unknown. We analyzed photographs of individual bowhead whale flukes from five regions within the EC-WG population’s geographic range (Cumberland Sound, Foxe Basin, Isabella Bay, Repulse Bay and Disko Bay), taken during 1986 and from 2007 to 2012, to estimate the occurrence of rake marks (parallel scars caused by killer whale teeth). Of 598 identified whales, 10.2?% bore rake marks from killer whales. A higher occurrence of rake marks was found in Repulse and Disko Bays, where primarily adult bowhead whales occur seasonally, than in Foxe Basin, where juveniles and females with calves occur. Older bowheads, which have had greater exposure time to killer whales due to their age, had higher occurrences of rake marks than juveniles and calves, which may indicate that younger whales do not survive killer whale attacks. A high proportion of adult females also had rake marks, perhaps due to protecting their calves from killer whale predation. In order to quantify the effect of killer whales on EC-WG population recovery, further research is needed on the relationship between the occurrence of rake marks and bowhead adult, calf, and juvenile mortality in the ECA, as well as more information about Arctic killer whale ecology.