Vessel traffic disrupts the foraging behavior of southern resident killer whales

David Lusseau1,*,**, David E. Bain2,**, Rob Williams3, 5, Jodi C. Smith4 ABSTRACT: Vessel traffic may have contributed to southern resident killer whales Orcinus orca becoming endangered. To determine the importance of this threat, we measured the behavior of southern residents in the presence and absence of vessels from 2003 to 2005 at 2 different sites [...]

Species and stock identification of prey consumed by endangered southern resident killer whales in their summer range

M. Bradley Hanson, Robin W. Baird, John K. B. Ford, Jennifer Hempelmann-Halos, Donald M. Van Doornik, John R. Candy, Candice K. Emmons, Gregory S. Schorr, Brian Gisborne, Katherine L. Ayres, Samuel K. Wasser, Kenneth C. Balcomb, Kelley Balcomb-Bartok, John G. Sneva, Michael J. Ford (2010).  Endang Species Res Vol. 11: 69-82, 2010 ABSTRACT Recovery plans for [...]

Prey selection and food sharing by fish-eating ‘resident’ killer whales (Orcinus orca) in British-Columbia

Ford, John K.B., Graeme M. Ellis (2005). . Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat Research Document – 2005/041. ABSTRACT Three distinct, socially-isolated forms, or ecotypes, of killer whales (Orcinus orca), inhabit coastal waters of British-Columbia, Washington State, and southeastern Alaska. The so-called transient ecotype feeds primarily on marine mammal prey, the resident ecotype feeds primarily on fish, and [...]

Selective foraging by fish-eating killer whales Orcinus orca in British Columbia

Ford, John K.B., Graeme M. Ellis (2005).  MARINE ECOLOGY PROGRESS SERIES Vol. 316: 185–199, 2006. ABSTRACT As the apex non-human marine predator, the killer whale Orcinus orca feeds on a wide diversity of marine fauna. Different ecotypic forms of the species, which often exist in sympatry, may have distinct foraging specialisations. One form found in coastal waters [...]