Samskipti á milli tveggja rándýra í sjó með flókið félagsmynstur: hlutverk hljóðfræðilegra bendinga - verkefni lokið
Fréttatilkynning verkefnisstjóra
Samskipti á milli tegunda og hlutverk hljóða í samskiptum hafa sjaldan verið könnuð hjá sjávarspendýrum. Í þessu rannsóknaverkefni var prófuð tilgáta um að hljóðbendingar séu sérstaklega mikilvægar í samskiptum á milli topprándýrategunda með flókið félagsmynstur. Þessi tilgáta var könnuð með rannsóknum á samskiptum grindhvala (Globicephala melas) og háhyrninga (Orcinus orca).
Grindhvalir hafa reglubundið sést hrella háhyrninga í Norður Atlantshafi, jafnvel þótt háhyrningar séu taldir afræningjar á grindhvölum en ekki öfugt. Það er óljóst hvort samkeppni um auðlindir eða andsvar gagnvart afræningjum, liggi að baki þessari hegðun. Þetta rannsóknaverkefni fól í sér fyrstu ítarlegu athugunina á því gangverki sem liggur til grundvallar samskiptum grindhvala og háhyrninga við Vestmannaeyjar. Með tækjabúnaði í fremstu röð, svo sem fjölnemamerkjum á dýrum, hljóðnemum, auk athugana frá landi og frá rannsóknabátum, voru í þessum rannsóknum metin hljóð- og hreyfingarviðbrögð háhyrninganna við því þegar grindhvalir nálgast. Þar að auki var kannað hlutverk hljóða við mótun á þessum samskiptum, með spilun á nýjum upptökum af grindhvalahljóðum fyrir háhyrninga. Þessi gögn efla skilning okkar á þeim þáttum sem móta samskipti ólíkra sjávarspendýrategunda. Rannsóknirnar hafa ennfremur gildi í víðara samhengi og geta nýst fyrir aðrar tegundir sjávarspendýra.
English:
Interspecific interactions and the role of acoustic communication in these interactions have rarely been studied in marine mammals. This project tests the hypothesis that acoustic cues are particularly important in interactions between social top predators of the marine environment by investigating the interactions between long-finned pilot whales (Globicephala melas) and killer whales (Orcinus orca). Pilot whales are regularly seen harassing killer whales in the North Atlantic, even though killer whales are known predators of pilot whales and not vice versa. It is unclear if competition for resources or a mobbing, anti-predator behaviour drive these interactions. This study provides the first detailed investigation of the mechanisms behind pilot whale and killer whale interactions in Vestmannaeyjar, Iceland. Using state-of-the art methodologies such as multi-sensor archival tags, various acoustic recorders as well as land- and boat-based observations, this study assesses the acoustic and movement behavioural responses of killer whales to pilot whale approaches. In addition, it tests the role of acoustic cues in mediating these interactions, through novel playbacks of pilot whale sounds to killer whales. Together these data are increasing our understanding of the role of acoustic cues in interspecific interactions in a unique study that will have broader applications to other species and human disturbance.
Information on how the results will be applied:
The results of this study will find several applications. Firstly, the project provides an increased understanding of the behavioural ecology of pilot whales and killer whales in Icelandic waters, which will support management and protection of marine ecosystems. Secondly, the baseline data collected on the acoustic behaviour of killer whales will be relevant for monitoring of the species through passive acoustic methods, which are of increasing importance in ecological assessments and monitoring of remote regions. Finally, the data from the playback experiments will provide detailed information on the behavioural response of a top predator to a high-level disturbance, which will be relevant as a yardstick for the assessment of responses to human disturbance, such as noise from marine construction of naval sonars.
A list of the project’s outputs:
The main outputs from the project are three scientific publications:
Selbmann A, Miller PJO, Wensveen PJ, Svavarssson J, Samarra FIP (2023b) Call combination patterns in Icelandic killer whales (Orcinus orca). Scientific Reports, 13, 21771. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-48349-1
Selbmann A, Deecke VB, Filatova OA, Fedutin ID, Miller PJO, Simon M, Bowles AE, Lyrholm T, Lacey C, Magnúsdóttir EE, Maunder W, Wensveen PJ, Svavarsson J, Samarra FIP (2023a) Call type repertoire of killer whales (Orcinus orca) in Iceland and its variation across regions. Marine Mammal Science, 39, 1136–1160. https://doi.org/10.1111/mms.13039
Selbmann A, Basran CJ, Bertulli CG, Hudson T, Mrusczok, M-T, Rasmussen MH, Rempel JN, Scott J,
Svavarsson J, Wensveen PJ, Whittaker M, Samarra FIP (2022) Occurrence of long-finned pilot whales (Globicephala melas) and killer whales (Orcinus orca) in Icelandic coastal waters and their interspecific interactions. Acta Ethologica, 25, 141–154. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10211-022-00394-1
Heiti verkefnis: Samskipti
á milli tveggja rándýra í sjó með flókið félagsmynstur: hlutverk
hljóðfræðilegra bendinga/Interspecific interactions between social top
predators of the marine environment: the role of acoustic cues
Verkefnisstjóri: Anna Selbmann, Háskóla Íslands
Tegund styrks: Doktorsnemastyrkur
Styrktímabil: 2020-2023
Fjárhæð styrks kr. 19.362.000
Tilvísunarnúmer Rannís: 206808
