Killer whales (Orcinus orca) produce ultrasonic whistles.
This study reports that killer whales, the largest dolphin, produce whistles with the highest fundamental frequencies ever reported in a delphinid. Using wide-band acoustic sampling from both animal-attached (Dtag) and remotely deployed hydrophone arrays, ultrasonic whistles were detected in three Northeast Atlantic populations but not in two Northeast Pacific populations. These results are inconsistent with analyses suggesting a correlation of maximum frequency of whistles with body size in delphinids, indicate substantial intraspecific variation in whistle production in killer whales, and highlight the importance of appropriate acoustic sampling techniques when conducting comparative analyses of sound repertoires.
Sea Mammal Research Unit, Scottish Oceans Institute, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife KY16 8LB, United Kingdom. fips2@st-andrews.ac.uk
Filipa I P
FI
Samarra
Volker B
VB
Deecke
Katja
K
Vinding
Marianne H
MH
Rasmussen
René J
RJ
Swift
Patrick J O
PJ
Miller
D000818:Animals; D049628:Body Size / Q000502:physiology; D006309:Hearing / Q000502:physiology; D014465:Ultrasonics; D014828:Vocalization, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D050685:Whale, Killer / Q000502:physiology*