AREA USAGE BY KILLER WHALES (ORCINUS ORCA) IN AVACHA GULF OF KAMCHATKA PENINSULA

作者：Nagaylik M M^*; Filatova O A; Ivkovich T V; Burdin A M; Hoyt E

来源：Zoologicheskii Zhurnal, 2010, 89(4): 484-494.

The area usage by killer whales in Avacha Gulf (Kamchatka) was investigated. The activity type and G PS position with at least 5 min intervals were recorded. Photoidentification and acoustic recordings were used for the determination of pods, clans, and ecotypes. Resident groups of the Avacha clan were found to have the centre of their activities around Cape Opasnyi, at depths of less than 100 m. It is a spawning area for the Atka mackerel (Pleurogrammus monopterygius). Comparing G PS positions for the feeding events in 2005 and 2006 showed that in 2006, killer whales used a smaller area for the feeding activities; their feeding sites have shifted to the south. Killer whales from resident clan K19 were found in Avacha Gulf less frequently; they usually traveled farther from the shores; their G PS registrations were randomly distributed in the area. Transient groups were mostly recorded in the areas with depths between 50 and 100 m. The results obtained suggest the existence of inter- and intrapopulational differences in the area usage by killer whales near Kamchatka.

• 出版日期2010-4