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Offshore killer whale, Tofino, BC |
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Full
Report
This
study compared the discrete calls of offshore killer whales, Orcinus
orca, to previously documented offshore killer whale calls.
Seven new offshore killer whale calls were identified. The offshore
killer whales now have 104 calls in their discrete vocal repertoire.
Call frequency was compared between groups recorded in 2001 and
2002. The offshore killer whales recorded in 2001 used new call
types significantly more than those in 2002. Therefore, these
groups of offshore killer whales may be a different families that
are utilizing different discrete call repertoires. Killer whales
utilizing similar call repertoires are related to the same family
pod. These results reveal that the offshore ecotype of killer
whale could be utilizing group-specific calls like resident, fish-eating,
killer whales. |
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