Title
Pilot Whales Attracted to Killer Whale Sounds: Acoustically-Mediated Interspecific Interactions in Cetaceans
Author
Cure, C.
Antunes, R.
Samarra, F.
Alves, A.C.
Visser, F.
Kvadsheim, P.H.
Miller, P.J.O.
Publication year
2012
Abstract
In cetaceans’ communities, interactions between individuals of different species are often observed in the wild. Yet, due to methodological and technical challenges very little is known about the mediation of these interactions and their effect on cetaceans’ behavior. Killer whales (Orcinus orca) are a highly vocal species and can be both food competitors and potential predators of many other cetaceans. Thus, the interception of their vocalizations by unintended cetacean receivers may be particularly important in mediating interspecific interactions. To address this hypothesis, we conducted playbacks of killer whale vocalizations recorded during herring-feeding activity to free-ranging long-finned pilot whales (Globicephala melas). Using a multi-sensor tag, we were able to track the whales and to monitor changes of their movements and social behavior in response to the playbacks. We demonstrated that the playback of killer whale sounds to pilot whales induced a clear increase in group size and a strong attraction of the animals towards the sound source. These findings provide the first experimental evidence that the interception of heterospecific vocalizations can mediate interactions between different cetacean species in previously unrecognized ways.
Subject
Marine mammals
Cetaceans
Vocalizations
Interspecific interactions
Defence Research
Defence, Safety and Security
Physics & Electronics
AS - Acoustics & Sonar
TS - Technical Sciences
To reference this document use:
http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:240bffdc-3f2d-428e-8ecb-c08fb18ccf69
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0052201
TNO identifier
466832
Source
PLoS ONE, 7 (7)
Bibliographical note
Open Access
Document type
article