Abstract
Observations of killer whales (Orcinus orca) feeding on the remains of beaked whales have been previously documented; however, to date, there has been no published account of killer whales actively preying upon beaked whales. This article describes the first field observations of killer whales interacting with, hunting and preying upon beaked whales (Mesoplodon spp.) on four separate occasions during 2014, 2015 and 2016 in the Bremer Sub-Basin, off the south coast of Western Australia.
Highlights
The killer whale (Orcinus orca) is a global species, occurring from shallow coastal waters to deep offshore waters [1]
The Bremer Sub-Basin is an area of approximately 11,500 km2, off the continental shelf of southwestern Australia, extending from Albany east towards Esperance
In Australian waters, knowledge of their biology and distribution has been a result of intermittent sightings and stranding records [41,42,43]
Summary
The killer whale (Orcinus orca) is a global species, occurring from shallow coastal waters to deep offshore waters [1] They are the dominant oceanic apex predator, feeding on a variety of vertebrate and invertebrate species, including other marine mammals, seabirds, fish, sharks, squid and turtles [2]. Resident and offshore ecotypes feed on fish, which, in the case of resident killer whales, is predominantly Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) [3,6,7]; whereas Bigg’s killer whales consume almost exclusively marine mammals, with their diet including cetaceans and pinnipeds, and some seabirds and squid [3,8,9,10]. There have only been reports that killer whales in southern Western Australia potentially feed on the Southern Ocean sunfish (Mola ramsayi) (DR personal observation, unpublished) and possibly an unidentified large squid (MB and DR personal observations, unpublished). This article describes, for the first time, field observations of killer whales preying upon beaked whales (Mesoplodon spp.) in the Bremer Sub-Basin, Western Australia, on four separate occasions during the months of February and March in 2014, 2015 and 2016
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