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2003 Good Whale Hunting Robert L. Pitman National Marine Fisheries Service

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Pitman, Robert L., "Good Whale Hunting" (2003). Publications, Agencies and Staff of ht e U.S. Department of Commerce. 509. http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usdeptcommercepub/509

This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the U.S. Department of Commerce at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Publications, Agencies and Staff of the .SU . Department of Commerce by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. NATURALIST AT LARGE Good Whale Hunting Two tantalizing Russian reports take the author on a quest to the , in search of two previously unrecognized kinds of .

By Robert L. Pitman

hey always remind me of witch’s hats—a little bit of THalloween in the winter wonderland. Looking across a flat plain of frozen Antarctic sea ice, I watch as a herd of killer whales swims along a lead—a long, narrow crack in the six- foot-thick ice. The fins of the males are black isosceles triangles, five feet tall, and they look like a band of trick- or-treaters coming our way. I am on board the U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker Polar Star as it back-and-rams the frozen ocean to open up a fourteen- mile-long channel into McMurdo Sta- tion, fifty feet at a whack. The Na- New killer whale on the block? Unlike the killer whale familiar to aquarium visitors, the kind pictured above, in the southern , lives in the Antarctic tional Science Foundation has offered pack ice. To find their way from one breathing hole to the next, the whales me a bunk on board the vessel while I “spyhop,” lifting their heads above the surface to get a better view before study the killer whales that inhabit the picking their way through the dangerous and shifting channels of pack ice. pack ice of the southern Ross Sea. In the early 1980s, whalers from the designated, so the description has to be whales (Balaenoptera bonaerensis). This former Soviet Union, presumably in scientifically ignored. The other de- form is likely just a summer visitor the mood for some new product scription, however, by Alfred Berzin to . testing, slaughtered more than 900 and Vladimir Vladimirov, both ceta- Berzin and Vladimirov reported Antarctic killer whales in one season. cean biologists at the Pacific Research that the second form, which they pro- Workmen on the flensing deck of the Institute of Fisheries and Oceanogra- vided a name for—Orcinus glacialis— factory ships, where the blubber and phy in Vladivostok, Russia, provided in their belief that the was new meat is stripped off the , some fairly solid evidence that there to science, lives mainly in the pack ice, quickly realized that two quite differ- might be two species of killer whale in where it may be a year-round resi- ent kinds of killer whale were being Antarctica. (Unfortunately, although dent. It occurs, they said, in herds that hauled up the slipway for processing. Berzin and Vladimirov designated a sometimes number in the hundreds of The differences were so striking that holotype specimen, it has subsequently individuals. The is between two groups of Soviet investigators in- been discarded.) One species, of three and five feet shorter than O. orca, dependently described new species of course, is the familiar denizen of Sea- with markings that are yellowish in killer whale from the Soviet catch World, a large black-and-white form color instead of white, and feeds al- data—though it is not clear from their that lives throughout the world’s most exclusively on fish. The yellow accounts whether they were describ- oceans but does not penetrate into the coloration is presumed to be from an ing the same, or different, new species. Antarctic ice. It travels in herds of be- infestation of diatoms. Caused by mi- In any event, one group’s descrip- tween ten and twenty animals and croscopic phytoplankton that occur in tion was too vague, and a holotype, or feeds almost exclusively on marine polar waters and on the underside of museum reference specimen, was not mammals, particularly Antarctic minke ice, the coloration is a characteristic of

24 NATURAL HISTORY December 2003/January 2004 all forms of pack-ice killer whales, but before the whales break the surface, is the only time they are allowed to not of O. orca. The pack-ice animal the sea boils vigorously and a perfect smoke while on board the Polar Star. also has much smaller teeth than O. circle of clear water opens up above Probably none of them has ever been orca, which may be related to its diet them. Most of the broken ice behind right up close to a whale in the wild of fish. Although the Russian descrip- the ship is tightly packed, and the before, and they aren’t quite sure what tion of O. glacialis is in many ways shards are hard and often sharp. The to expect. Some of the killer whales are convincing, most cetacean biologists adult whales are forcefully exhaling almost as long as our twenty-five-foot have not accepted the validity of a sec- just before surfacing, opening up a launch, and there is concern on the ond species, much less a third one (the breathing space several feet across so faces of the younger crew members, species described so vaguely by the they won’t cut or scrape their sensitive some only recently out of high school. second group of Soviet investigators). skin on the ice debris. Whale calves Someone asks me if I am going to be Yet the evidence is tantalizing enough also surface in the ring of open water, killing any whales today, and I realize I that I have come to the Antarctic right next to their mothers. should have given them a little talk Ocean to see for myself. Later that evening a different group before our initial outing. of twenty killer whales appears to be The launch is rather boxy looking, s the Polar Star sits motionless at socializing in a large open pool in our but somehow it churns ahead at forty Athe head of the channel we have channel. We count as many as twelve knots. We quickly catch up to the just created, killer whales that were individuals that seem to be practicing herd. These whales are the kind I swimming along the edge of the synchronized swimming: they charge came here to find: they are smaller pack ice are now moving toward us around at high speeds and make sharp than the usual form; and they have a through the broken ice that has filled in turns, all the while keeping in tight distinctive “cape,” or darker coloring behind the ship. As they enter the shoulder-to-shoulder formation. One on the back, in contrast to the lighter dense pack ice, their heads start sprout- animal is swimming upside-down at shading below, and yellowish instead ing up through the shattered of white patches. We are ice like giant black-and-white lucky to find them in open tulips. They are “spyhop- water. It is a fairly large group, ping”: hovering above the maybe fifty-five individuals, surface for a second or two, including several adult males where they seem to be eyeing and some very young calves. our vessel and the ice in be- They are scattered over a tween us and them, and then mile or so, in subgroups of easing straight back down between one and ten animals. into the water. My hope is to photograph as It dawns on us that the many individuals as I can from entire herd of thirty or so close range, to confirm that animals are leap-frogging they are the pack-ice types. I through the pack ice and also plan to collect some moving toward the stern of Pack-ice killer whales of the Ross Sea, probably the form to which biopsy samples, which will our ship, seemingly inter- Russian biologists gave the new species name Orcinus glacialis, are enable us to compare these ested in the pool of open also partly distinguishable by a “cape”—a dark coloring on the animals genetically with killer water that our prop wash has whale’s back that is distinct from the lighter shading below, typified whale populations elsewhere created. Sometimes individ- by the animal shown here. The cape is not present in O. orca. in the world, to determine uals pop up several times in just how distinct they are. If the same spot, apparently looking the surface when an adult female the whales are cooperative, we’ll get ahead for the next open water before strikes it midbody from below, pro- our photos and samples; if they’re eva- they proceed. Their heads jut high pelling it sideways and ten feet out of sive, all we’ll get is wet. out of the water, maybe six feet or so, the water. It looks like tons of fun. To collect the biopsy samples, I and they crane their necks to scan the have brought two crossbows along: a surface in search of the next breathing few days later we find another small crossbow if the whales allow us hole. Getting stuck under the ice Aherd of killer whales beyond the close access, and a compound cross- would spell certain death for these pack ice. Captain Dave MacKenzie bow in case I have to call long dis- air-breathers, and they need to care- gives me the okay to go over the side in tance, a hundred feet or more. The fully plan their moves. a launch, along with fifteen or so curi- darts I shoot are regular aluminum- As they close in around us, we no- ous Coasties. Most of the crew truly shaft arrows, but they have a float at- tice another intriguing behavior: just enjoy being outside—if only because it tached to the business end and a small

December 2003/January 2004 NATURAL HISTORY 25 cutting head threaded onto the tip. out in the bow, over the din of the en- good. I pick out a pair of adult males The cutting head extracts a plug of gine and the pounding of our launch for the driver to sidle up to. tissue about the size of a pencil eraser. against the waves. Our operation is Normally when I shoot, the dart akin to calf-roping from a jet ski, and fire a dart that seems to loft for an bounces harmlessly off the back of the our young driver begins a little appre- Ieternity. But it finds its mark, then animal and lands floating on the sur- hensively. But goading from the other bounces off the back of the nearest face, where we motor over and pick it crew members onboard carries the day, whale. As frequently happens when up. When I describe the biopsy opera- and soon she’s charging into the fray. two whales travel close together, the tion to the launch crew, some seem The whales are moving along, all in companion whale responds to the uncomfortable with the idea at first, the same direction and at a fairly fast darting the instant the target whale is but that only lasts until they see the dart clip; they seem to have an appoint- hit. This companion gives a quick bounce off a whale like a soda straw off ment somewhere. That makes it rela- flick of the tail—just a little reminder a truck tire. The darting itself usually tively easy for us because what we that whales and dolphins perfected has little noticeable effect on the whales plan to do is come up directly behind high-speed, wireless communication and they are often more annoyed at the them, traveling only slightly faster millions of years before human beings launch buzzing around among them, than they are, and then swing out even began doodling on cave walls. I wave wildly at the driver for us to go back and pick up the dart—she hasn’t seen me shoot and is still throt- tling hard forward, trying to keep up with the whales. We finally do a hard turn to starboard and circle back to where my Day-Glo orange dart is bobbing in the middle of a slick left by the diving whale. As we ease in for the pick-up, I can see a tiny nub of blubber protruding from the end of the tip. We have the sample. The first one is always the most important. We catch up with the herd again, trying to take more photographs and samples. And as we do, our boat crew looks on in stunned awe as four-ton killer whales lunge alongside, within ten feet of our launch. For sheer size O. orca, the most familiar killer whale, is the largest member of the dolphin and predatory power, the killer whale family. When the animal visits Antarctic waters, it probably does so only as a is probably the closest thing to a living summer migrant, feeding in open water seaward of the ice pack. The whale Ty rannosaurus rex on Earth today. But is usually jet-black, with a white underbelly. there is also a remarkable beauty about the beasts: they fairly gallop, like sleek so we try to take care of business sixty feet or so to the side. That ma- thoroughbreds, through the velvety quickly and then leave them alone. neuver will get us broadside to the cold Antarctic water, their black and whales and give us nice targets for the white bodies a glistening collage of lot is riding on this sortie— camera and crossbow, with minimal wet inner tube and white porcelain. Amonths of planning are coming disturbance to the herd. We spend almost two hours with to a head. The weather is sloppy, and As we move to within 300 feet of the whales, half of it as my shipmates subfreezing spray douses us whenever our target subgroup, some of the hold me by the ankles while I dangle we head upwind (apparently a favorite whales slightly alter the way they swim, over the side retrieving darts. (In my direction for killer whales!). Clearly the but clearly in response to our presence. haste I forgot to bring a net, but fortu- weather is not going to give us much of Their surfacing rhythm changes, and nately the Coast Guard has a knack for a break. I just hope the whales will co- some animals veer away from the pulling people out of the water.) Still, operate. Although I have talked to the group a bit as they dive. Some of the we have a fine outing: nine tissue sam- helmsman in advance about how to females rein in their calves. But ulti- ples and three rolls of exposed film. approach the whales, I still have to mately the whales have no major reac- As in nearly all biological investiga- shout instructions back from my look- tions to us, and our prospects look tions, simple questions rarely have sim-

26 NATURAL HISTORY December 2003/January 2004 ple answers, and the taxonomic status members clapped their mouths onto vocalizations, and morphology of of Antarctic killer whales—How many either side of its tail and pulled it back Antarctic killer whales that will bring species are there?—is no exception. All into the water. I think people who additional evidence to bear on these killer whales have a white pigmented train killer whales may be giving them- issues. The preliminary analysis of the area behind the eye called an eye selves too much credit. tissue samples I have collected, for patch. Around McMurdo, in the After three seasons in Antarctica, I instance, already suggests that the southern Ross Sea, I found that the am convinced that in addition to the three forms may not interbreed, but killer whales in the pack ice have familiar killer whale from around the the results are still preliminary and small, slanted eyepatches, and they world, at least one and probably two verification will take a while. There apparently feed mainly on Antarctic additional species of killer whale lurk are no simple answers. toothfish ( mawsoni), a fish in the icy waters around the cold con- that grows to more than six feet long tinent. What I have seen are three ut there is a sense of urgency to and more than 250 pounds. quite different-looking forms, which Blearn more about the Antarctic have different, but at times overlap- pack-ice killer whales, an urgency that he following year, however, near ping, ranges and habitats. The three goes far beyond academic concerns. Tthe on the forms also prefer different prey and Fishing boats from New Zealand and other side of the continent, I found travel together in herds of different elsewhere have recently begun to that the killer whales experiment with com- patrolling the pack ice mercial fishing for are quite different: they Antarctic toothfish in have large eye patches the southern Ross Sea. that aren’t slanted, and That raises a host of they prey mainly on the questions for pack-ice several species of seals killer whales. How de- that feed and live among pendent are they on the ice floes. toothfish? How abun- The seal hunters also dant is the toothfish? forage in a distinctive How many whales do way: they travel in scat- the toothfish support, tered groups, spyhopping and where else do those through the loose pack whales occur? Will the ice, looking for seals. new fishery, as our And when they locate a work suggests so far, en- seal on a floe, they have Pack-ice killer whales living along the Antarctic Peninsula may danger the food source plenty of tricks for taking constitute a second new species. Characterized by large “eye of an entirely new and it off the ice. If the ice patches,” whitish oval markings above and behind the eyes, independent species? is thin, less than a foot these orcas prey mainly on seals. The three most prominent spy- Biologists have a long or so, they can smash hopping orcas in the photograph have encircled a way to go before they on an ice floe; a leopard seal is at left, on an adjacent floe. through from below. can resolve such ques- Sometimes, if a seal is on a small but size (the latter behavior suggests their tions. Yet the answers could become thick chunk of ice, a large male whale social structure is probably different, critically important to the survival of will tilt one end of the floe up with its too). And though there are no dis- the whales, particularly if they are head, tumbling the hapless seal into the cernible physical barriers to prevent forced to compete with an industrial- clutches of the rest of the waiting herd. intermingling or interbreeding, I have scale fishery. Until now, their obscu- At other times, a group of whales will never seen mixed herds or any indi- rity in the Antarctic pack ice has swim off to 150 feet or so from a target vidual that looks like an intermediate served them well. But it may be time seal, then turn and charge it. At the last form, or hybrid. The failure to find for pack-ice killer whales to come in second the whales turn sharply, sending any social mixing or apparent hybrids out of the cold. a large wave over the floe that washes is highly significant in itself. Robert L. Pitman is a marine ecologist with the seal off the ice and onto the menu. Like the earlier reports of the Sovi- the National Marine Fisheries Service in La According to one report posted on the ets, these conclusions will be met Jolla, California. He spends six to eight Internet, a killer whale lunged com- with healthy skepticism by other ma- months a year at sea studying whales and dol- pletely out of the water, stranding itself rine-mammal scientists. To meet this phins. His most recent contribution to Natural on an ice floe as it grabbed a seal. Im- challenge I have already begun some History was “Alive and Whale,” in the Sep- mediately thereafter, two other herd collaborative studies on the genetics, tember 2002 issue.

28 NATURAL HISTORY December 2003/January 2004