Direct observation of killer whales preying on white sharks and evidence of a flight response

Towner, Alison V.; Kock, Alison A.; Stopforth, Christiaan; Hurwitz, David; Elwen, Simon H.

doi:10.1002/ecy.3875

Cited by 18 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…Within weeks, members of J and L pods had learned and repeated the same behavior, which was not observed in any pod the following summer. Some killer whales off the coast of South Africa have been recorded consuming the liver of great white sharks ( Carcharodon carcharias ), a behavior which may have spread between individuals (Towner et al, 2022). Other examples of transmission of behavior and culture in cetaceans are abundant (Garland & Rendell, 2020; Whitehead, 2009), such as the spread of humpback whale ( Megaptera novaeangliae ) songs (Schulze et al, 2022), Tursiops sp.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Harassment and killing of porpoises (“phocoenacide”) by fish‐eating Southern Resident killer whales (Orcinus orca)

Giles,

Teman,

Ellis

et al. 2023

Marine Mammal Science

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Endangered Southern Resident killer whales (Orcinus orca) are fish‐eaters that preferentially prey on adult Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha). Despite being salmon specialists, individuals from all three killer whale pods (J, K, L) have been observed harassing and killing porpoises (family Phocoenidae) without consuming them. Retrospectively, we identified and analyzed 78 episodes of Southern Resident killer whales harassing porpoises between 1962 and 2020, of which 28 resulted in the porpoise's death (“phocoenacide”). Fifty‐six episodes involved harbor porpoise (Phocoena phocoena), 13 involved Dall's porpoise (Phocoenoides dalli), and the porpoise species was unreported for nine episodes. Southern Resident killer whales often targeted young porpoises that were similar in size to adult Chinook salmon. Both sexes participated in porpoise harassment. Juveniles engaged in the behavior the most; however, their rates of engagement were not found to differ significantly from most other age classes. The behavior was passed through generations and social groupings, as it was first observed in L pod and spread to the other two pods. Killer whales are highly complex animals known to exhibit social learning and cultural transmission of learned behaviors, but the reason(s) for this behavior is unknown. Hypotheses include the social and developmental benefits of play, hunting practice, or displaced epimeletic behavior.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Harassment and killing of porpoises (“phocoenacide”) by fish‐eating Southern Resident killer whales (Orcinus orca)

Giles,

Teman,

Ellis

et al. 2023

Marine Mammal Science

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“…These age-related differences in observational learning have been related to differences in temporal processing of observed outcomes using electro-encephalogram (EEG) 9 , 10 . Children, ages 8–10, showed larger electrophysiological responses when observing peers as compared to adults 5 , but compared to adults their electrophysiological responses did not change according to their learning 6 , and they could not yet benefit in accuracy from observed information as much as adults. What remains unresolved in the current literature are the functional and computational processes supporting observational learning as compared to individual learning across development.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 90%

“…Numerous findings indicated that others have a strong impact on learning and decision-making 1 – 6 . For instance, we may be swayed by the opinions of others to adjust our norms on acceptable behavior.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Observational reinforcement learning in children and young adults

Rodriguez Buritica,

Eppinger,

Heekeren

et al. 2024

npj Sci. Learn.

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Observational learning is essential for the acquisition of new behavior in educational practices and daily life and serves as an important mechanism for human cognitive and social-emotional development. However, we know little about its underlying neurocomputational mechanisms from a developmental perspective. In this study we used model-based fMRI to investigate differences in observational learning and individual learning between children and younger adults. Prediction errors (PE), the difference between experienced and predicted outcomes, related positively to striatal and ventral medial prefrontal cortex activation during individual learning and showed no age-related differences. PE-related activation during observational learning was more pronounced when outcomes were worse than predicted. Particularly, negative PE-coding in the dorsal medial prefrontal cortex was stronger in adults compared to children and was associated with improved observational learning in children and adults. The current findings pave the way to better understand observational learning challenges across development and educational settings.

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“…Killer whales (Orcinus orca) are top predators with documented cascading effects on ecosystems [9][10][11][12]. The frequency of killer whale sightings in the eastern Canadian Arctic has increased considerably since the 1950s [13,14], so there is potential for them to induce substantial ecosystem-level change in this sensitive region [15].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate change introduces threatened killer whale populations and conservation challenges to the Arctic

Garroway,

de Greef,

Lefort

et al. 2023

Preprint

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The Arctic is the fastest-warming region on the planet, and sea ice loss has opened new habitat for sub-Arctic species such as the killer whale (Orcinus orca). As apex predators, killer whales can cause significant ecosystem-scale changes, however, we know very little about killer whales in the Arctic. Setting conservation priorities for killer whales and their Arctic prey species requires knowledge of their evolutionary history and demography. We found that there are two highly genetically distinct, non-interbreeding populations of killer whales using the eastern Canadian Arctic—one population is newly identified as globally distinct. The effective sizes of both populations recently declined, and both are vulnerable to inbreeding and reduced adaptive potential. Furthermore, we present evidence that human-caused mortalities, particularly ongoing harvest, pose an ongoing threat to these populations. The certainty of substantial environmental change in the Arctic complicates conservation and management significantly. Killer whales bring top-down pressure to Arctic food webs, however, they also merit conservation concern. The opening of the Arctic to killer whales exemplifies the magnitude of complex decisions surrounding local peoples, wildlife conservation, and resource management as the effects of climate change are realized.

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Direct observation of killer whales preying on white sharks and evidence of a flight response

Cited by 18 publications

References 15 publications

Harassment and killing of porpoises (“phocoenacide”) by fish‐eating Southern Resident killer whales (Orcinus orca)

Harassment and killing of porpoises (“phocoenacide”) by fish‐eating Southern Resident killer whales (Orcinus orca)

Observational reinforcement learning in children and young adults

Climate change introduces threatened killer whale populations and conservation challenges to the Arctic

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