Rare Mixed-Species Associations Between Sperm Whales and Risso's and Northern Right Whale Dolphins Off the Southern California Bight: Kleptoparasitism and Social Parasitism?

Inter-specific behavioral interactions between large whales and small odontocetes are rarely described and little understood. Reasons for such associations have been proposed but are difficult to substantiate empirically given the challenges inherent with studying deep- and long-diving cetaceans at...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Northwestern naturalist (Olympia, Wash.) Wash.), 2014-04, Vol.95 (1), p.43-49
Main Authors: Smultea, Mari A, Bacon, Cathy E, Lomac-MacNair, Kate, Visser, Fleur, Bredvik, Jessica
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
aerial survey
Biodiversity
Calves
Cetacea
Delphinidae
Dolphins
Environmental aspects
Foraging
GENERAL NOTES
Grampus griseus
Health aspects
Jaw
Kleptoparasitism
Lissodelphis borealis
Marine
Marine mammals
mixed-species association
Northern Right Whale Dolphin
Parasites
Parasitism
Physeter macrocephalus
Risso's Dolphin
Social parasitism
southern California
Southern California Bight
Sperm Whale
Spermatozoa
Squid
Studies
Whales
Whales & whaling
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Summary:Inter-specific behavioral interactions between large whales and small odontocetes are rarely described and little understood. Reasons for such associations have been proposed but are difficult to substantiate empirically given the challenges inherent with studying deep- and long-diving cetaceans at sea. Here, Smultea et al describe the first published social interactions of Sperm Whales, Risso's Dolphins and Northern Right Whale Dolphins as photo- and video-documented off southern California in spring 2011.
ISSN:1051-1733
1938-5315
DOI:10.1898/NWN13-11.1