First record of false killer whales (Pseudorca crassidens) in the Falkland Islands (Malvinas)

Orcinus orcais a cosmopolitan species and the most widely distributed marine mammal. Its diet includes over 140 species of fish, cephalopods, sea birds and marine mammals. However, many populations are specialised on certain specific prey items. Three genetically distinct populations have been described in the North Atlantic. Population A (that includes the Icelandic and Norwegian sub-populations) is believed to be piscivorous, as is population C, which includes fish-eating killer whales from the Strait of Gibraltar. In contrast, population B feeds on both fish and marine mammals. Norwegian killer whales follow the Norwegian spring spawning herring stock. The only description in the literature of Norwegian killer whales feeding on another cetacean species is a predation event on northern bottlenose whales in 1968. Daily land-based surveys targeting sperm whales were conducted from the Andenes lighthouse using BigEyes®binoculars (25×, 80 mm). The location of animals at sea was approximated through the use of an internal reticule system and a graduated wheel. On 24 June 2012 at 3:12 am, an opportunistic sighting of 11 killer whales was made off Andenes harbour. The whales hunted and fed on a harbour porpoise. Despite these species having overlapping distributions in Norwegian waters, this is the first predatory event reported in the literature.

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Gastrointestinal parasites and prey items from a mass stranding of false killer whales, Pseudorca crassidens, in Rio Grande do Sul, Southern Brazil

Revista Brasileira de Biologia ◽

10.1590/s0034-71082001000100008 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 61 (1) ◽

pp. 55-61 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

A. L. V. ANDRADE ◽

M. C. PINEDO ◽

A. S. BARRETO

Keyword(s):

Rio Grande ◽

Gastrointestinal Parasites ◽

Southern Brazil ◽

Rio Grande Do Sul ◽

Ommastrephes Bartramii ◽

Killer Whales ◽

Food Items ◽

Pseudorca Crassidens ◽

Mass Stranding ◽

Prey Items

The gastrointestinal tract of 14 false killer whales, 6 males and 8 females, stranded in June 1995 in southern Brazil, with total standard lengths from 338 to 507 cm, were analysed for endoparasites and food items. A pregnant female had a male foetus of 77.5 cm. Parasites were found in all 14 false killer whales. The nematode Anisakis simplex (Rudolphi, 1809) was found in the stomach of 57% of the animals and the acanthocephalan Bolbosoma capitatum (Linstow, 1889) Porta, 1908 was present in the intestine of all specimens and showed densities up to 600 m-1. An unidentified cestode (Tethrabothridae) was found also in the intestines of 14% of the individuals. The high infections of B. capitatum and A. simplex were not directly related with the cause of death. In the stomachs of four females, beaks of at least eight specimens of the oceanic and epipelagic species Ommastrephes bartramii (Lesueur, 1821) were found, with mantle lengths ranging from 189.8 to 360.9 mm. The distribution of O. bartramii in the coast of Rio Grande do Sul is consistent with false killer whales feeding in continental shelf waters.

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The first record of the subtropical morwong ( Nemadactylus bergi) in the sub-Antarctic waters of the Falkland Islands

Marine Biodiversity Records ◽

10.1017/s1755267210000473 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 3 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Neil R. Anders

Keyword(s):

First Record ◽

Falkland Islands ◽

Antarctic Waters

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Rare observations of false killer whales (Pseudorca crassidens) cooperatively feeding with common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in the Hauraki Gulf, New Zealand

Marine Mammal Science ◽

10.1111/j.1748-7692.2012.00582.x ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 29 (3) ◽

pp. 555-562 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Jochen R. Zaeschmar ◽

Sarah L. Dwyer ◽

Karen A. Stockin

Keyword(s):

New Zealand ◽

Tursiops Truncatus ◽

Bottlenose Dolphins ◽

Killer Whales ◽

Pseudorca Crassidens

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Mass stranding of pygmy killer whales (Feresa attenuata) in the British Virgin Islands

Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom ◽

10.1017/s0025315499002076 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 80 (2) ◽

pp. 383-384 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Antonio A. Mignucci-Giannoni ◽

Gian M. Toyos-González ◽

Janice Pérez-Padilla ◽

Marta A. Rodríguez-López ◽

Julie Overing

Keyword(s):

New Record ◽

Killer Whale ◽

Caribbean Sea ◽

First Record ◽

Virgin Islands ◽

Killer Whales ◽

British Virgin Islands ◽

History Of ◽

The Caribbean ◽

Mass Stranding

The pygmy killer whale (Feresa attenuata) is an offshore, tropical and subtropical delphinid found in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans. The species has only recently been studied, mostly from specimens collected from strandings. While over 52 reports exist for the Atlantic Ocean, only one record exists for the Caribbean Sea. A new record of a mass stranding of pygmy killer whales from the British Virgin Islands is documented and the pathology and life history of the specimens is described, associating the stranding process with the meteorological and oceanographic disturbance of Hurricane Marilyn, which devastated the Virgin Islands a day prior to the stranding. This stranding event constitutes the sixth known mass stranding for the species worldwide, the first record for pygmy killer whales for the northeastern Caribbean and the second for the entire Caribbean Sea.

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High levels of persistent organic pollutants measured in blubber of island-associated false killer whales (Pseudorca crassidens) around the main Hawaiian Islands

Marine Pollution Bulletin ◽

10.1016/j.marpolbul.2009.08.029 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 58 (12) ◽

pp. 1932-1937 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

Gina M. Ylitalo ◽

Robin W. Baird ◽

Gladys K. Yanagida ◽

Daniel L. Webster ◽

Susan J. Chivers ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Organic Pollutants ◽

Persistent Organic Pollutants ◽

Hawaiian Islands ◽

Killer Whales ◽

Pseudorca Crassidens

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The abundance of false killer whale, Pseudorca crassidens (Artiodactyla: Delphinidae) in coastal waters of Golfo Dulce and Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica

Revista de Biología Tropical ◽

10.15517/rbt.v68i2.37196 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 68 (2) ◽

Author(s):

Erika Sánchez Robledo ◽

Lenin Enrique Oviedo Correa ◽

David Herra-Miranda ◽

Juan Diego Pacheco-Polanco ◽

Sierra Goodman ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Costa Rica ◽

Population Size ◽

Killer Whale ◽

Small Population ◽

Killer Whales ◽

Apparent Survival ◽

Osa Peninsula ◽

Small Population Size ◽

False Killer Whale ◽

Pseudorca Crassidens

Introduction: False killer whale (Pseudorca crassidens) is a tropical and subtropical social species that live in groups with individuals of mixed ages and sex classes. False killer whales have been documented since the late 1990s in Southwestern Costa Rica. Objective: To estimate the abundance of false killer whales in Osa Peninsula waters. Methods: Cetacean surveys off the Osa Peninsula Waters (OPW), Costa Rica, yielded opportunistic encounters with false killer whales in Drake Bay and Caño Island (2001-2015) and observations during formal surveys in Golfo Dulce (2005-2015). Photo-identification data was analyzed using capture-mark-recapture models in the study area, through an open population (POPAN) framework, considering the effect of time on the parameters apparent survival and capture probability, producing an abundance estimate for a superpopulation in the entire study area. Results: False killer whale abundance in OPW is characterized by a small population size of no more than 100 individuals, complemented by a very low probability of encounter and a contrasting high apparent survival. Conclusions: This population estimate should be taken as conservative, however, the small population size of less than 100 individuals should be considered vulnerable, in contrast to the increasing anthropogenic impacts in the coastal seascape. We argue the potential occurrence of population units along the coastal seascape of the Pacific littoral and oceanic island-associated units at Isla del Coco.

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