Evidence of killer whale predation on a yearling bowhead whale in Cumberland Sound, Nunavut

Arctic Science

article

Brent G. Young¹  Sarah M.E. Fortune²  William R. Koski³  Stephen A. Raverty⁴  Ricky Kilabuk¹  Steven H. Ferguson¹ 

[1] 501 University Crescent;Marine Mammal Research Unit, Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, University of British Columbia;LGL Limited;Animal Health Center;Department of Biological Sciences, University of Manitoba

关键词: Balaena mysticetus;    Orcinus orca;    predation;    Arctic;    Nunavut.;   

DOI  :  10.1139/as-2019-0014

学科分类：地球科学(综合)

来源: NRC Research Press

【 摘 要 】

Accounts of killer whale ( Orcinus orca ) predation on marine mammals in the Canadian Arctic are relatively uncommon. Although second-hand reports of killer whale predation events in the Arctic are more common in recent years, these observations are generally poorly documented and the outcome of attacks are often unknown. On 12 August 2016, a floating bowhead whale ( Balaena mysticetus ) carcass was found off-shore in Cumberland Sound, Nunavut — presumably predated by killer whales that were sighted in the area. Inspection of the carcass revealed injuries consistent with published accounts of killer whale predation on large whales and observations of killer whale predation on bowheads described in Inuit traditional knowledge. The bowhead was male, 6.1 m long in good nutritional condition and estimated between 14 and 16 months old. As a recently weaned yearling, this whale would have been highly vulnerable to killer whale predation. With decreasing summer sea ice making some areas of the Arctic more accessible, the incursion and presence of killer whales in the Arctic is expected to increase. A better understanding of Arctic killer whale predation pressure is needed to predict the potential impact they will have on the eastern Canada–west Greenland bowhead population as well as on other marine mammal prey.

【 授权许可】

CC BY