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Marine Mammalogy > Midterm 1 > Flashcards

Midterm 1 Flashcards

1
Q

I did a lot of the data on whales come from

A

Whaling logs

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2
Q

What are some methods for estimating cetacean population

A

Mark recapture, surveys, genetics

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3
Q

What is mark recapture

A

Using artificial marks that are made, using natural marks like the tale of the whale or scratches on the fan.

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4
Q

Our surveys conducted

A

Buy air, ship, land

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5
Q

What are the population growth rates of cetaceans like / general trend

A

Low maximum population growth rates

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6
Q

The number of Wright Wells how very proud the years with a huge population decline happening presently… The question is how many were there and how are they figuring this out

A

Historical methods - add catches and births, pre-whaling pop size

Genetic methods
- estimate mtdna + # of females needed to produce it
Total pop size proportional to # breeding females

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7
Q

What’s the problem with the historical method and genetic method of estimating cetacean population size

A

There are huge discrepancies and differences between the population size from these two methods

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8
Q

mysticetes social structure

A

Safe from predators, pray our car easily, strong seasonality and their environment for migrations, mom calf bond, if you other bonds because of interactions for feeding and breeding

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9
Q

Most Mysticetes do not cooperatively feed together, they are groupings are usually temporary during the summer feeding season however there is one exception to this… Which one cooperatively feeds together and how

A

Humpback form a bubble net

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10
Q

Return the winter breeding they usually congregate in what type of waters and why

A

Calm, relatively warm water. They do this because there’s a higher chance of calf survival

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11
Q

Who has more power in the meeting decisions

A

Females

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12
Q

Explain sperm competition during the winter breeding season

A

Right wheels display this, they make enough sperm to blast out the previous emails sperm
Female is surrounded by a number of males with her belly up at the circus so that the males can’t access her genitals, males are underneath and have a mobile penis that can search for the female and deposit it sperm

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13
Q

What are songs used for

A

Mating rituals

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14
Q

How do the songs of the males for example in humpbacks dispersed geographically across the oceans

A

They move eastward across oceans

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15
Q

What are some characteristics of a meeting ritual songs

A

All male sing the same songs to attract females, song changes from year to year, songs change from location

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16
Q

How do odontocetes differ from mysticetes in feeding

A

Go after Faster moving fish, prey difficult to catch

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17
Q

Who is more social mysticetes or odontocetes why

A

Odontocetes

Need to protect young because born smaller and prone to predators

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18
Q

River an insurer dolphins and B12 a very similar to hump back feeding… How do they feed

A

Disturb the bottom and create mud nets with bubbles

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19
Q

Food in small quantities leads to what kind of odontocetes structure

A

Solitary or small groups

River or inshore dolphins - mud nets

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20
Q

Food in large quantities + odontocetes

A

Massive amounts of mammals aggregate because predictable food stock

Harbour porpoises bay of fundy

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21
Q

Food in large unpredictable quantities +odontocetes

A

Large groups

Tropical pelagic dolphins

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22
Q

Difficult prey to catch + odontocetes

A

Structured groups i.e orcas

Coordinated orca wave to eat seal

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23
Q

The sociality of larger more socially complex groups is related to what

A

Care of young and predators

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24
Q

How do you sperm whales adapt their diving when they have a calf in their group

A

They stagger their dive so that the young calf is never left alone at the surface

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25
Q

Gift of general patterns of Odontocetes sociality

A

Inshore = small groups (little predation, small amount of food)

Offshore - larger groups

Small animals - unstructured (safety in #)

Larger animals - strucutred (orcas)

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26
Q

what are some features of larger odontocetes in a permanent structure group

A 
Long lactation 
Long lifetime
Large brain, complex
Altruism (helping another at a cost to yourself)
Complex vocal repitoire 
Culture
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27
Q

Explain the different alliances seen in male cetaceans

A

1st alliance - groups are close
2nd alliance - first order comes together to help access female
Super alliance - bunch of animals together, who otherwise arent usually together to defend territory

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28
Q

What is the general difference between male and female cetaceans and their group structure

A

Females group structure adapted to food and habitat

Male social behaviour adapted to females

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29
Q

What is the most powerful sound that exist naturally on the planet

A

Sperm whale acoustics

Used in male competition for females

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30
Q

What are orcas

A

Largest oceanic dolphin, distinct black and white, Apex predator, wide diversity

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31
Q

What are the basic anatomy components of an orca

A

White eyepatch and a saddle patch

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32
Q

What is the closest relative to an orca

A

Australian snout fin dolphin

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33
Q

Where are orcas found

A 
West coast of Canada and the US, 
Norway, Iceland (herring eating) 
Eastern Russia and Japan
East coast of South America
Antarctica
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34
Q

Explain the life history of orcas

A 
Sexually dimorphic
Males larger than females
Females mature faster than males
Station is about 15 to 18 months
Nurse young for at least a year, sometimes two years
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35
Q

What are some differences between male and female orcas

A

Males - Long dorsal fin, long pectoral fin, more elongated white patch

Females - mammary slits, shorter more curved dorsal fins, young males look similar to females with a curved dorsal fin when young

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36
Q

Can mail orcas have mammary slits

A

Yes sometimes

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37
Q

What is an Ecotype

A

Orcas of a geographic region that differ from the rest

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38
Q

Ecotypes mix

A

Nope

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39
Q

In the Pacific Northwest there are three Ecotypes of orcas - what does this mean

A

Culturally distinct between the different egotypes, they use the same habitat but they don’t interact/mix with each other

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40
Q

What is an orca Clan

A

Distinct call, distinct dialect within that clan

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41
Q

The Southern offshore order clan that they found around Southern California in Southeast Alaska and we see that travels up to 200 miles a day, in large groups and has teeth that are completely worn down… What was the hypothesis for why they have teeth that are so run down

A

They eat sharks and other bottom fish which wear down their teeth overtime

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42
Q

The northern residence of North East Vancouver Island mainly eat salmon… why do the mothers feed the suns to make the males big and bulky

A

To make them male attractive to other females for meeting

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43
Q

The southern resident orcas that live middle Vancouver island between Vancouver and Victoria have been subject to intents whale watching and there’s only 73 individuals left leaving them very vulnerable. Their diet is salmon and they need over 600,000 salmon to feed. Why do they blame northern residence for the depletion and the southern resident population

A

Blame northern residence for eating most of the salmon, as well as other pink salmon and pinnipeds for eating the available fish

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44
Q

What are the main physical differences between resident, transient, and offshore orcas

A

Resident - rounded dorsal fin, sharp ridge on dorsal fin side, open saddle patch, predictable diving pattern

Transient - Sharp dorsal fin, closed saddle patch, stay around the shoreline and dive below

Offshore- more rounded top to dorsal fin, closed saddle patch

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45
Q

What type of Antarctic orca is found in open waters, it’s diet is mink whales, and it is the largest of the Antarctic Kiko tapes

A

Antarctic type a

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46
Q

What Antarctic orca tape has a two-tone gray appearance, eats seals and penguins, migrate up to South America to shed their skin of diatoms and have a large eyepatch

A

Type B

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47
Q

What type of workout is fish eating, found in the ice cracks, using spy hopping technique for navigation, is a two-tone colour with an angled eyepatch

A

Ross C

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48
Q

What Antarctic set of orca is found in the higher latitudes of the southern ocean, has a bulbous forehead, has a small iPad, feed mostly on fish, is rarely seen, this is very rare to see, was first noticed in 1955

A

Antarctic type D

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49
Q

The Atlantic has type one and type two orcas. Where are the type one orcas found? What do they usually eat on?

A

Norway and Iceland

Feed on haring migrations

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50
Q

How do you tape on orcas to feed on haring use their tail to feed

A

They gather a big ball of herring and then hit it with its tail to stun the herring and then feed on them

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51
Q

What type of orca are the marine mammal eaters like the ones that are seen off of Newfoundland and eight mink wells and other marine animals

A

Type 2

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52
Q

How does the melting arctic ice affect the normal population with their relationship to killer whales

A

Melting see ice has allowed tape to killer whales to hunt narwhals which is an added pressure on their species on top of climate change

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53
Q

Type of orcas are found in New Zealand

A

Shark and ray eaters
Mainly eat fish, some of them surf waves alongside surfers, shallow environments, use waves to hunt sharks and rays, do a unique form of feeding via stranding. On beaches

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54
Q

Where are transient orcas found

A

Only in the North Pacific

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55
Q

What are some of the most poorly understood orca groups

A

Caribbean as well as tropical Pacific

56
Q

Some of the biggest concerns for the southern resident wells in Canada for conservation

A

Noise and food

57
Q

What are two sources of mortality four N. Atlantic right well

A

Entanglement and ship strike

58
Q

What are to risk mitigation project for Atlantic right whale

A

Reduce fishing effort and times and places that overlap with whales and alternative technology that is safe for Wales

Reduce vessel speed

59
Q

For risk mitigation for right whales what do we need to know about them

A

Where and when to find them

60
Q

I do right whales feed

A

Swim forward with my mouth open

Slot in front of mouth where the prey enters
Water is shunted out back of the mouth near the eye
Allows whales to swim and feed without creating a bow wave

Actively suck and pray through filtration

61
Q

North Atlantic right whale have fine baleen plates that are down to the 300 µm. This only allows them to eat small things and they have very restricted feeding to large zooplankton down to the grain size of rice. What is one of the downsides of this feeding strategy

A

Creates a lot of drag because of the plates

62
Q

Why do North Atlantic right whales target only zooplankton

A

Trophic efficiency and zooplankton factors that overlap with whale movements

63
Q

What are some of the unique life history features of zooplankton that make them so desirable for right whale feed

A

In the spring the eggs mature, and by the end of far they are close to adult size with a lot of fat. They go into diapause where they shut down metabolically *NSYNC and hibernate. They re-emerge as adults and restart the cycle. Wright Wells need to billion cup pods a day. They can find dense patches of these zooplankton in diapause to meet demands

Dense patches of zooplankton in diapause

64
Q

How do these dance calanus patches of copepods form

A

Diapause causes them to sink deep in the ocean and dense patches

65
Q

The mechanisms that Wright Wells used to find these copepod dense patches differs based on their special scale. Explain these differences between large medium and find scale spatial scales

A

Large - working memory

Medium - combo of memory, feature tasting (sensing ocean salinity, acousitcs

Small - tactile - hairs on chin, sense vibrations in water column

66
Q

Right well can’t gather their own pray they rely on

A

Environmental patterns in order to feed

67
Q

Does the Slocum glider do

A

Swims up and down in the water column it’s a used in remote sensory as a tool to monitor new habitats with acoustics

68
Q

What are two projects that are being done to help study north Atlantic right whale

A

Slocum - remote sensing

GoSL - visual surveys

69
Q

How do you hump back whales feed

A

Filter feeders that eat crow, hearing, sand lance

Bubble feeding

70
Q

I’m back wheels are sexually dimorphic with females being larger than males. Why are the females larger?

A

Attract more males for reproduction because they are larger, healthy females means healthy calves

71
Q

The humpback whales are sometimes called the winged whales because why

A

Large pectoral fins that can reach 4 to6 m

72
Q

Why do humpback whales have such large pectoral wings

A

Manoeuvrability
Mating dance
Sharp movements

73
Q

How do you come back use their pectoral fins in their bubble net feeding strategy

A

Use pectoral fins to help push food into the mouth

74
Q

What are some behaviours of humpback whales

A

Ariel displays, tail slapping, fin slapping

75
Q

What are some of the thoughts as to why humpback whales have aerial displays, tail slapping, fin slapping?

A

Cleaning for parasite removal, meeting behavior, sexual display, aggression, communication, Forge technique, play behaviour

76
Q

When males migrate in spring to higher latitude feeding grounds how did the vocalizations change compared to when they are at breeding grounds

A

They are non-song like vocalizations that are not as pattern/intricate as their mating songs

77
Q

What is the structure of a whale song

A

Pattern makes a phrase, phrases are repeated, phrases make a theme, this theme becomes the song,

Song session is the repeating of the song sometimes for hours on end

78
Q

Why do I’m back whales migrate

A

Thermoregulation because the warmer water helps regulate more efficiently with less work

Comer waters for young

Predation except this is less likely because they are orcas down south

Culture, the mothers do it so the young take after the elders tradition

79
Q

How do the humpback songs transfer across the ocean… In what direction does this transfer happen

A

From West Coast to East Coast across the ocean

80
Q

What is a good analogy to think of how well songs change every couple of years

A

The changing trend of jeans

81
Q

What are some of the theories about why humpback whales sing

A

Meeting, competition, oral history

82
Q

Researchers found that there are humpback whales singing in the winter which is not where breeding is… why do some of them not migrate down to the south in the winter

A

So may not migrate because they’re trying to get bigger and it’s expensive to migrate down south

Could be old females who aren’t calving

83
Q

Why would males be singing in the winter in Nova Scotia

A

They could be practising the song

Found that some wells don’t start with the full song, start with fragments of the song even though they know the whole song… Maybe they are just practising certain bits of the song

84
Q

They found that more mail saying at night then during the day which is seeing consistently around the world what did this mean about their meeting strategy

A

They mate during the night time

85
Q

Sperm whales are suborder odontocetes and family..

A

Physeteridae

86
Q

What is the most phylogenetically distinct whale i.e. it is the most different from whales and dolphins

A

Sperm whales

87
Q

Sperm whale is an animal of extremes because it is…

A

Largest tooth whale
Sexually dimorphic (males much bigger than females)
Of the largest intestine on earth
Asymmetric

88
Q

How are sperm whales asymmetric

A

They have a single blow hole on the left tip of the head that blows forward and to the left

89
Q

What is a unique feature of the nose of a sperm whale that is used in communication and the making of sound

A

Above the upper jaw there is an organ with oil that is used to refract and bounce sound to make clicking vocalizations

Makes a very directional and powerful sound

90
Q

Why do sperm whales have unpredictable migrations

A

They depend on food… If food is good they stay, if food is bad they leave

91
Q

What do sperm whales feed on

A

Midwater and Deepwater squid and Fish

92
Q

What are some predators to sperm whales

A

Killer whales, large sharks possibly, humans

93
Q

What are sperm whales spending 70% of their time doing? What about the other 25%?

A

75% spent foraging, 25% spent socializing

94
Q

What are the sperm whale social structures like for females

A

A unit is usually made up of 10 females
If you see a group of 20 females it’s likely two units that can be together for a couple hours to a couple days but not as permanent as a unit

95
Q

What are some of the features of the communal lives of female sperm whales

A

They move and travel together, they babysit each other‘s calves while the mothers dive, they suck all each other‘s cars, they defend themselves, females depend on the social structure for survival

96
Q

Sperm whale codas are pattern series of clicks. Made mainly by females. Coda repertoires in social units found in the Galapagos showed three clans of codas… what were these three clans

A

Regular spaced clicks, plusone groups, short groups

97
Q

What were some differences between the regular and the plus one clan of sperm whales near the Galapagos islands

A

Reg - near isalnds, wiggling pattern, liked colder water
- count poop

+1 clan - farther from isalnds, easier to follow, like warmer water, did well during el nino

98
Q

Coda glands are not genetically discrete… There is no difference between their nuclear genes.They live in the same environment, and their differences are not about age nor six groups… What could this clans possibly be evidence of

A

Culture

These social clicking patterns. Are passed on through generations

99
Q

What are some male sperm whale behaviours and patterns that we see

A

Males leave their mother and female relatives around age 16

As he ages he moves to a higher latitudes
Lots of males seen in northern climates not as many female seen in northern climates

Bachelor groups
Communal stranding of males on Sable Island

Males return to low latitudes to breed with females

100
Q

What other animal are sperm whales usually compared to because of their extreme features

A

Elephants

101
Q

Sperm whales most closely related to and how

A

Elephants
Specialized nose, huge brain size, life history similar, mobility, female social structure, communal care of young, segregation of males, long range vocal communication, roving strategy of males

102
Q

Why are elephants and sperm whales so similar

A

Modified knows that is useful and increases feeding success

Can logically dominate

Intraspecific competition don’t have any real predators so they only compete with their own species

Slow life history processes when competing with on species, emphasis on building strong young

103
Q

How does the long exploration voyages of the Polynesians provide a good example of gene culture coevolution

A

Polynesians went on these long voyages with out giving meals which causes the body to produce more sugar which is linked to diabetes

Modern Polynesians are more susceptible to type two diabetes linking to a specific gene variant

104
Q

What physiological changes are correlated with culture

A

Larger brain size

Ecological dominance

105
Q

What are three primary modes of cultural transmissions

A

Vertical
Oblique
Horizontal

106
Q

What type of transmission is learning from adults who aren’t parents, and may not relfect genetic transmission (i.e grandparents to granchild,teacher to student)

A

Oblique

107
Q

What kind of transmission is learning from parents, stable transmission similat to genes, things like language or religion

A

Vertical transmission

108
Q

What is horizontal transmission

A

Learning from peers
Unstable
Transmission different from genes
Faster within group evolution

Like popcultre

109
Q

What test was used to see the advanced cognitive abilities of dolphins

A

Mirror mark test

110
Q

What features to whales and dolphins share

A

Long live, prolonged care of young

Big brains
Advanced cognitice abiliyt
Complex social structure

111
Q

What are the transmission mechanisms of culture

A

Imitation

Teaching

112
Q

Whats a feeding culture of orchas that is taught by teaching

A

Stranding on beach to catch seals

They practice on beaches without seals

113
Q

What are some unique features of humpback whales song

A

Long, cicular repeated vocalization

Sung by makes on breeding grounds

Move west to east
Songs propogate across the ocean

114
Q

Why are humpback whale songs considered horn transmission and an example of culture

A

Genetics can’t explain this

Only males sing to breed, they learn the song and it propogates through the ocean from west to east

All sing same song with minimal vara

115
Q

Blue whale song is less complicated, but shows a steady drop in frequency over the last 5 yr period… what kind of transmission is this

A

Horizontal

116
Q

Sperm whales, all males, feeding strategy on longlines of fisheries.. what type of transm

A

Horizontal

117
Q

How was culture seen in captive orcas

A

Started spitting out fishto catch birds to play with

This behaviour spread throughout other individuals in the captive group for many genera

118
Q

How did orcas work with whalers…

A

They would alert whalers when orcas had killed a humpback so whalers could go get the leftover blubber after orcas had fed

Orcas would help sheperd whales towards whalers

119
Q

How might culutre it eract with conservation

A

Trawler dolphins - eat fish thrown overboard

Found that getting rid ofmthe dependency, even though fear of losing 1/w of population to this forage strategy, dolphins re-inter grated with old population habits

120
Q

Whats a downside to culture (southern orcas…

A

Maladaptive conformism

Only eat slecific salmon type and wont conform to another type

Culture can segment a populations

  • diff foragin clans of sperm whales
  • example plus one anregular
121
Q

What are the main takeways about cetacean culture

A

Important for griup identity

Behavioural diversity from genes and culture transmission

122
Q

What are pilot wha,es named for

A

Long oectoral fins

123
Q

Give the size and life history of pilot whales

A 
Sexual dimorphic
Males bigger than females
Longer life;sand of females
Males mature faster than females
Gestation - 12-13mo
Nurse for 2+ yrs
Breeding and calving peaks happen year round,anytime
124
Q

What is a unique fewture lf pilot whales

A

Breeding boom

Baby boom in late july then againt in the fall

Long pectoral fins

125
Q

What are three distinct marking on pilot whales

A

Eye stripe
Saddly patch
Anchor patch

126
Q

What are the two major differences between the subspecies ofmpilot whales

A

Long finned - elbow

Short-finned - cyclical

127
Q

Why would male pilot whales babysit? Usually these males aren’t part of that group

A

Maybe two familiy groups are travdlling together

Male display to attract females - he is healthy enough to spend energy babysitting, impressive to females

128
Q

Where are pilot whales fround

A

Off cape breton
300-400 deep
Come off laurentianchannel
Eat squid

129
Q

Where does sound come from in pilot whales

A

Blowhole

130
Q

What modified acousitc sequence types were found in oilot whale calls

A

Stable - same s-ound

Embel- buzz added to third call

Morphed - call goes all over the place

131
Q

What is a pattern seen in pilot whales call that is unique

A

When they start makking a call type, stable, embelor morphed, they continue making that call

132
Q

Is there actually a pilot of pilot whales

A

From dive interval, median dive times remain the same, so no real leader - if there was, you’d expectt he median dive time to decrease as you go down the group dive times

Maybe they make a coordinated, consensus decision

133
Q

What 2 things to diving mammals adapt to for diving

A

High P

Limited o2

134
Q

What is boyle’s law

A

V of air becomes less as p increase

135
Q

What wnhances the greater 02 blood capacity of marine mammals

A

Blood volume
Haemoglobin concentration
Number of RBCs

136
Q

Marine mammals hearts are adapted for diving? What are the benefits?

A

Larger, flattened (contracts and expands under high pressure more easily if flat), oxygen store in aorta

Marine Mammalogy (2 decks)

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