Dependence of killer whale (<i>Orcinus orca</i>) acoustic signals on the type of activity and social context

Filatova, Olga A.; Guzeev, M. A.; Fedutin, Ivan D.; Burdin, A. M.; Hoyt, Erich

doi:10.7868/s0044513413030094

Cited by 4 publications

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“…In addition to foraging and movement behaviours 50 , sperm whales, and other cetaceans, can learn acoustic communication signals from each other 41 . In the aquatic environment, where sounds spread particularly well, acoustic communication—the likely function of codas 51 —may help maintain group cohesion, reinforce bonds, aid negotiations and collective decision-making 52 53 . Since vocal learning in cetaceans is an output of complex social behaviour and may assist the maintenance of multiple social relationships 41 , we asked if it could trigger the formation of the vocal clans.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the overlapped acoustic network, modules of social units connected by the similarity in acoustic behaviour (grey lines whose thicknesses are proportional to multivariate similarity of coda repertoires) represent the vocal clans (blue: Regular clan, characterized by codas with regularly-spaced clicks; red: Plus-One clan, characterized by codas with extended pause before the final click 35 ). Social relationships and acoustic similarities are replotted results from refs 35 , 52 , respectively.…”

Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 99%

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Multilevel animal societies can emerge from cultural transmission

et al. 2015

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Multilevel societies, containing hierarchically nested social levels, are remarkable social structures whose origins are unclear. The social relationships of sperm whales are organized in a multilevel society with an upper level composed of clans of individuals communicating using similar patterns of clicks (codas). Using agent-based models informed by an 18-year empirical study, we show that clans are unlikely products of stochastic processes (genetic or cultural drift) but likely originate from cultural transmission via biased social learning of codas. Distinct clusters of individuals with similar acoustic repertoires, mirroring the empirical clans, emerge when whales learn preferentially the most common codas (conformism) from behaviourally similar individuals (homophily). Cultural transmission seems key in the partitioning of sperm whales into sympatric clans. These findings suggest that processes similar to those that generate complex human cultures could not only be at play in non-human societies but also create multilevel social structures in the wild.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 99%

Multilevel animal societies can emerge from cultural transmission

et al. 2015

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“…In the North Pacific fish-eating killer whales, biphonic calls have higher source levels (Miller 2006 ) and are more directional (Miller 2002 ) than monophonic calls. Together with their increased usage in the contexts of pod mixing (Filatova et al 2009 , 2013 ), this suggests that biphonic calls are used to track the position of family members, while monophonic calls are close-range intra-group contact signals (Filatova et al 2009 ). Icelandic killer whales produced more biphonic calls during the day than during night, but they were related to the underwater tail slap rates only during the night.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Icelandic herring-eating killer whales feed at night

et al. 2017

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Herring-eating killer whales debilitate herring with underwater tail slaps and likely herd herring into tighter schools using a feeding-specific low-frequency pulsed call (‘herding’ call). Feeding on herring may be dependent upon daylight, as the whales use their white underside to help herd herring; however, feeding at night has not been investigated. The production of feeding-specific sounds provides an opportunity to use passive acoustic monitoring to investigate feeding behaviour at different times of day. We compared the acoustic behaviour of killer whales between day and night, using an autonomous recorder deployed in Iceland during winter. Based upon acoustic detection of underwater tail slaps used to feed upon herring we found that killer whales fed both at night and day: they spent 50% of their time at night and 73% of daytime feeding. Interestingly, there was a significant diel variation in acoustic behaviour. Herding calls were significantly associated with underwater tail slap rate and were recorded significantly more often at night, suggesting that in low-light conditions killer whales rely more on acoustics to herd herring. Communicative sounds were also related to underwater tail slap rate and produced at different rates during day and night. The capability to adapt feeding behaviour to different light conditions may be particularly relevant for predator species occurring in high latitudes during winter, when light availability is limited.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00227-016-3059-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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“…Pulsed calls or vocalizations are primordial for communication, and a pod can share between 7-17 different calls classed by types 4 . Vocal activity also depends on the group's activity 5 . Numerous acoustic studies have already proven that pulsed vocalization plays an important role in the social life of the group [5][6][7] .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evidences of Intra-Group Orca Call Rate Modulation Using A Small-Aperture Four Hydrophone Array

Poupard¹,

Symonds²,

Spong³

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Acoustic emissions are vital to orcas (Orcinus orca) to socialize, hunt, orient, and maintain spatial awareness. In order to better analyze their inter and intra-group communication, we propose a novel protocol that allows us to associate vocalizations with their emitter (individual/matriline). Our approach is based on a low cost small-aperture four hydrophone array fixed near the shore up to a few km away from the orcas’ path, operated in conjunction with visual identification. It was conducted in the summer of 2019 off northern Vancouver Island, Canada, at the research station OrcaLab. A total of 722 calls were extracted and localized in azimuth via the hydrophone array from 3 case studies in which different events took place.We then calculated the Call Rate (CR) for each individual/matriline in order to describe their acoustic activity. Results show that CR is modulated according to the distance of the signaler from the joint group, the presence of another group, and the anthropic pressure (nearby cruise ship). This shows evidence of intertwined calls. This protocol does not interfere with the animals and opens new perspectives towards inter and intra-group communication analysis.

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Dependence of killer whale (Orcinus orca) acoustic signals on the type of activity and social context

Cited by 4 publications

References 0 publications

Multilevel animal societies can emerge from cultural transmission

Multilevel animal societies can emerge from cultural transmission

Icelandic herring-eating killer whales feed at night

Evidences of Intra-Group Orca Call Rate Modulation Using A Small-Aperture Four Hydrophone Array

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