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  • Distribution and habitat use of southern resident killer whales

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Northwest Fisheries Science Center (NWFSC) Conservation Biology CB - Ecosystem Science; CB - Ecosystem Science - Marine Mammal Ecology

Information

Project
Killer whale distribution and movement
Title
Distribution and habitat use of southern resident killer whales
Description
The Southern Resident killer whale (SRKW) population is threatened by a number of identified risk factors including prey availability, contaminants, vessel noise and disturbance, and small population size. In addition, there are several data gaps SRKW regarding their ecology. Although summer distribution is well documented, their winter distribution is not well known. Satellite tagging, acoustic recorders, and a compilation of public sightings has allowed for a much better assessment of this population’s winter distribution. Satellite tagging has been suspended in response to the mortality of a tagged SRKW, such that acoustic recorders and public sightings will be the primary approaches used to improve our understanding of the whale population’s occurrence and habitat use. Recent data has shown changes in the whales’ summer distribution patterns. Consequently, additional data on occurrence and movement patterns will be particularly important to document in the near term in order to assess their potential response to the expected lower abundance of returning Chinook, their primary prey.

Data Sets

no data found

Research Themes

Recovery and rebuilding of marine and coastal species
The Pacific Northwest is home to several iconic endangered species, including Pacific salmon and killer whales, and several rockfish species. Mandates such as the Endangered Species Act, MagnusonStevens Act, and the Marine Mammal Protection Act, grant NOAA Fisheries the authority to manage the recovery of depleted species and stocks. The NWFSC contributes to species recovery through research, monitoring and analysis, providing NOAA managers and regional stakeholders the tools and information they need to craft effective regulations and develop sustainable plans for recovery.

Research Foci

Develop methods to use physiological, biological and behavioral information to predict population-level processes
Understanding the biological processes occurring within organisms is a powerful way of understanding how environmental changes affect those organisms. Genetics, developmental, physiological and behavioral studies all provide important information for effective species recovery and rebuilding. Integrating this information into models is vital to predict how populations will respond to natural or human perturbations, and to assess the constraints to stock rebuilding efforts. For example, data on thermal tolerance and physiological responses to temperature can be used to explore changes caused by shifts in climate on reproductive behavior and productivity, viability, movement, habitat selection, and population dynamics. Similarly, data on contaminants that impact physiological processes (immune system, growth, development, reproduction, and general health) are critical in determining how these compounds affect population dynamics. Data on biological responses of organisms to ocean acidification are useful for understanding how acidification may affect individual development and survival. The NWFSC collects such information for several species that are of concern, targets of fisheries or otherwise important for overall ecosystem function. NWFSC scientists will continue to expand current efforts and develop methods to incorporate physiological, biological and behavioral data into population models in order to predict population-level processes from these individual level data.

Keywords

killer whale
focal species
occurrence
seasonal location

Products

None associated

Taxa

Species Orcinus orca
grampus, killer whale, killer-trasher, orca

People

Brad Hanson
Principal Investigator
Candice Emmons
Co-Lead
Kim Parsons
Internal Collaborator