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| Orca Research Collective of Antarctica (ORCA) |
Studying the underwater sounds of killer whales
Killer whales live in a world of sound: since vision is extremely limited under water, killer whales rely primarily on sound for navigation and communication. For this reason, acoustic research provides a powerful tool to learn about these animals, particularly about their behaviour when they are under water and out of view. Research has shown that killer whales communicate with highly stereotyped underwater calls, and that the structure of these calls differs between populations or even between family groups within the same population. We will therefore use acoustic recordings to learn about the population- and social structure of the groups we encounter. We will monitor the vocal behaviour of focal groups to learn how often the animals call. In the North Pacific, killer whales that hunt seals and other marine mammals are known to travel silently to avoid detection by their acoustically sensitive prey. Conversely, killer whales that feed on fish, a prey with poor underwater hearing, call and echolocate frequently in order to locate and ultimately capture their prey. For this reason, the amount of vocal behaviour can tell us a lot about the food preference and hunting tactics of a particular group.
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