Humpback whales interfering when mammal-eating killer whales attack other species: Mobbing behavior and interspecific altruism?

Details

• Journal Title:
  Marine Mammal Science
• Personal Author:
  Pitman, Robert L. ; Deecke, Volker B. ; Gabriele, Christine M. ; Srinivasan, Mridula ; Black, Nancy ; Denkinger, Judith ; Durban, John W. ; Mathews, Elizabeth A. ; Matkin, Dena R. ; Neilson, Janet L. ; Schulman-Janiger, Alisa ; Shearwater, Debra ; Stap, Peggy ; Ternullo, Richard
• NOAA Program & Office:
  NMFS (National Marine Fisheries Service) ; OST (Office of Science and Technology) ; SWFSC (Southwest Fisheries Science Center)
• Description:
  Humpback whales ( Megaptera novaeangliae ) are known to interfere with attacking killer whales ( Orcinus orca ). To investigate why, we reviewed accounts of 115 interac- tions between them. Humpbacks initiated the majority of interactions (57% vs. 43%; n=72), although the killer whales were almost exclusively mammal-eating forms (MEKWs, 95%) vs.fish-eaters (5%; n=108). When MEKWs approached humpbacks ( n=27), they attacked 85% of the time and targeted only calves. When
• Keywords:
  Aquatic Science Ecology, Evolution, Behavior And Systematics Ecology, Evolution, Behavior And Systematics Ecology, Evolution, Behavior And Systematics
• Source:
  Marine Mammal Science, 33(1), 7-58
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.1111/mms.12343
• ISSN:
  0824-0469
• Format:
  PDF
• Publisher:
  Wiley
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• License:
  https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
• Rights Information:
  CC BY-NC-ND
• Compliance:
  Library
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:d7b52bec31c8c4830d467bc482cbe11ce4ea4b97f148ca7749258f63d178c8ce
• Download URL:
  https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/54369/noaa_54369_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.43 MB ]