- Title Pages
- [UNTITLED]
- List of Contributors
- List of Tables
- List of Figures
- Preface
- One Introduction
- Two Whales, Interaction Webs, and Zero-Sum Ecology
- Three Lessons from Land Present and Past Signs of Ecological Decay and the Overture to Earth’s Sixth Mass Extinctio
- Four When Ecological Pyramids Were Upside Down
- Five Pelagic Ecosystem Response to a Century of Commercial Fishing and Whaling
- Six Evidence for Bottom-Up Control of Upper-Trophic-Level Marine Populations
- Seven Evolutionary Patterns in Cetacea Fishing Up Prey Size through Deep Time
- Eight A Taxonomy of World Whaling
- Nine The History of Whales Read from DNA
- Ten Changes in Marine Mammal Biomass in the Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands Region before and after the Period of Commercial Whaling
- Eleven Industrial Whaling in the North Pacific Ocean 1952–1978
- Twelve Worldwide Distribution and Abundance of Killer Whales
- Thirteen The Natural History and Ecology of Killer Whales
- Fourteen Killer Whales as Predators of Large Baleen Whales and Sperm Whales
- Fifteen Physiological and Ecological Consequences of Extreme Body Size in Whales
- Sixteen Ecosystem Impact of the Decline of Large Whales in the North Pacific
- Seventeen The Removal of Large Whales from the Southern Ocean
- Eighteen Great Whales as Prey Using Demography and Bioenergetics to Infer Interactions in Marine Mammal Communities
- Nineteen Whales and Whaling in the North Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea Oceanographic Insights and Ecosystem Impacts
- Twenty Legacy of Industrial Whaling
- Twenty-One Predator Diet Breadth and Prey Population Dynamics
- Twenty-Two Bigger is Better
- TWENTY-THREE Gray Whales in the Bering and Chukchi Seas
- Twenty-Four Whales, Whaling, and Ecosystems in the North Atlantic Ocean
- Twenty-Five Sperm Whales in Ocean Ecosystems
- Twe Nty-Six Ecosystem Effects of Fishing and Whaling in the North Pacific and Atlantic Oceans
- Twenty-Seven Potential Influences of Whaling on the Status and Trends of Pinniped Populations
- Twenty-Eight The Dynamic Between Social Systems and Ocean Ecosystems
- Twenty-Nine Whaling, Law, and Culture
- Thirty Whales Are Big and It Matters
- Thirty-One Retrospection and Review
- Index
The Natural History and Ecology of Killer Whales
The Natural History and Ecology of Killer Whales
- Chapter:
- (p.163) Thirteen The Natural History and Ecology of Killer Whales
- Source:
- Whales, Whaling, and Ocean Ecosystems
- Author(s):
LANCE G. BARRETT-LENNARD
KATHY A. HEISE
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
This chapter notes that evidence of the behavioral versatility of killer whales is provided by the wide variety of foraging methods they employ throughout their cosmopolitan range; the correspondingly diverse set of prey species they are known to feed on; the different types of social systems that characterize different populations, interpopulational and in some cases intrapopulational variation in their use of acoustic signals for communication and echolocation, and their well-known ability to learn complex and novel behaviors in captivity. Yet, a predominant feature of killer whales is their conservative nature—they are less innovative than one might expect of a large-brained, socially, and behaviorally sophisticated animal.
Keywords: killer whale behavior, foraging methods, social systems, echolocation, social animal
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- Title Pages
- [UNTITLED]
- List of Contributors
- List of Tables
- List of Figures
- Preface
- One Introduction
- Two Whales, Interaction Webs, and Zero-Sum Ecology
- Three Lessons from Land Present and Past Signs of Ecological Decay and the Overture to Earth’s Sixth Mass Extinctio
- Four When Ecological Pyramids Were Upside Down
- Five Pelagic Ecosystem Response to a Century of Commercial Fishing and Whaling
- Six Evidence for Bottom-Up Control of Upper-Trophic-Level Marine Populations
- Seven Evolutionary Patterns in Cetacea Fishing Up Prey Size through Deep Time
- Eight A Taxonomy of World Whaling
- Nine The History of Whales Read from DNA
- Ten Changes in Marine Mammal Biomass in the Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands Region before and after the Period of Commercial Whaling
- Eleven Industrial Whaling in the North Pacific Ocean 1952–1978
- Twelve Worldwide Distribution and Abundance of Killer Whales
- Thirteen The Natural History and Ecology of Killer Whales
- Fourteen Killer Whales as Predators of Large Baleen Whales and Sperm Whales
- Fifteen Physiological and Ecological Consequences of Extreme Body Size in Whales
- Sixteen Ecosystem Impact of the Decline of Large Whales in the North Pacific
- Seventeen The Removal of Large Whales from the Southern Ocean
- Eighteen Great Whales as Prey Using Demography and Bioenergetics to Infer Interactions in Marine Mammal Communities
- Nineteen Whales and Whaling in the North Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea Oceanographic Insights and Ecosystem Impacts
- Twenty Legacy of Industrial Whaling
- Twenty-One Predator Diet Breadth and Prey Population Dynamics
- Twenty-Two Bigger is Better
- TWENTY-THREE Gray Whales in the Bering and Chukchi Seas
- Twenty-Four Whales, Whaling, and Ecosystems in the North Atlantic Ocean
- Twenty-Five Sperm Whales in Ocean Ecosystems
- Twe Nty-Six Ecosystem Effects of Fishing and Whaling in the North Pacific and Atlantic Oceans
- Twenty-Seven Potential Influences of Whaling on the Status and Trends of Pinniped Populations
- Twenty-Eight The Dynamic Between Social Systems and Ocean Ecosystems
- Twenty-Nine Whaling, Law, and Culture
- Thirty Whales Are Big and It Matters
- Thirty-One Retrospection and Review
- Index
