| Title | Satellite tracking reveals distinct movement patterns for Type B and Type C killer whales in the southern Ross Sea, Antarctica |
| Author | Andrews, R.D.; Pitman, R.L.; Ballance, L.T. |
| Author Affil | Andrews, R.D., University of Alaska Fairbanks, School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, Seward, AK. Other: NOAA |
| Source | Polar Biology, 31(12), p.1461-1468, . Publisher: Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Federal Republic of Germany. ISSN: 0722- 4060 |
| Publication Date | Nov. 2008 |
| Notes | In English. NSF Grant OPP-0338428. 42 refs. GeoRef Acc. No: 288447 |
| Index Terms | Southern Ocean--Ross Sea; biogeography; Cetacea; Chordata; ecology; Eutheria; Mammalia; remote sensing; Ross Sea; satellite methods; Southern Ocean; Tetrapoda; Theria; Vertebrata |
| Abstract | During January/February 2006, we satellite-tracked two different ecotypes of killer whales (Orcinus orca) in McMurdo Sound, Ross Sea, Antarctica, using surface- mounted tags attached with sub-dermal darts. A single Type B whale (pinniped prey specialist), tracked for 27 days, traveled an average net distance of 56.8 ± 32.8 km day-1, a maximum of 114 km day-1, and covered an estimated area of 49,351 km2. It spent several days near two large emperor penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri) colonies, a potential prey item for this form. By contrast, four Type C killer whales (fish prey specialists) tracked for 7-65 days, traveled an average net distance of 20 ± 8.3 km day-1, a maximum of 56 net km day-1, and covered an estimated area of only 5,223 km2. (modif. j. abstr.) |
| URL | http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s00300-008-0487-z |
| Publication Type | journal article |
| Record ID | 85179 |