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Dialect Use Within a Socially Fluid Group of Southern Resident Killer Whales, Orcinus Orca

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Dialect Use Within a Socially Fluid Group of Southern Resident Killer Whales, Orcinus Orca The University of Southern Mississippi The Aquila Digital Community Master's Theses Fall 12-2014 Dialect Use Within a Socially Fluid Group of Southern Resident Killer Whales, Orcinus orca Courtney Elizabeth Smith University of Southern Mississippi Follow this and additional works at: https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses Part of the Animal Studies Commons, and the Zoology Commons Recommended Citation Smith, Courtney Elizabeth, "Dialect Use Within a Socially Fluid Group of Southern Resident Killer Whales, Orcinus orca" (2014). Master's Theses. 61. https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/61 This Masters Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by The Aquila Digital Community. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master's Theses by an authorized administrator of The Aquila Digital Community. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The University of Southern Mississippi DIALECT USE WITHIN A SOCIALLY FLUID GROUP OF SOUTHERN RESIDENT KILLER WHALES, ORCINUS ORCA by Courtney Elizabeth Smith A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate School of The University of Southern Mississippi in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts Approved: Dr. Stan Kuczaj_______________________ Committee Chair Dr. Alen Hajnal_______________________ Dr. Sheree Watson____________________ Dr. Karen Coats______________________ Dean of the Graduate School December 2014 ABSTRACT DIALECT USE WITHIN A SOCIALLY FLUID GROUP OF SOUTHERN RESIDENT KILLER WHALES, ORCINUS ORCA by Courtney Elizabeth Smith December 2014 Resident killer whales, Orcinus orca, of the Northeastern Pacific form stable kinship-based matrifocal associations and communicate with group-specific repertoires of discrete calls (dialects) that reflect these associations. The gradual fission of matrilines is usually consistent with dialect variations among groups that may manifest as differences in call usage at the repertoire level or subtle structural differences of the calls themselves. Therefore, matrilines that are more closely related tend to be more acoustically similar. Within the endangered community of Southern Resident killer whales (SRKWs), recent evidence shows that one particular group (L pod) exhibits the lowest rate of intrapod association and has significantly greater associations within matrilines than between matrilines - suggesting they may be undergoing a level of fission that is reflected in their acoustic repertoire. Call production of four L matrilines (L04, L21, L26, and L12) was analyzed over a five-year period (2007-2011). Results showed significant differences in proportional call use and call associations across matrilines, as well as acoustic similarity indices between matrilines that reflect the social fissioning exhibited by L pod. The large size, demography, and seasonal movements of L pod suggest that it may represent a potential conservation target pod and its protection could lead to benefits for the overall recovery of SRKWs. This is the first study to assess matrilineal dialect use of SRKWs and the subsequent knowledge of matrilineal dialect use of specific groups resulting from i this study may prove useful for the future passive acoustic monitoring and management of this endangered population. ii DEDICATION For Doma, for everything. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This thesis would not have been possible without the support and encouragement of the Southern Resident community of killer whale researchers and naturalists. I would like to thank Kenneth C. Balcomb III, Director of the Center for Whale Research (CWR), for allowing me access to the photo-identification data used in the present investigation and for the opportunity to spend so many hours on the water with the endangered whales that are the focus of this project. I would also like to thank the other staff at the CWR, Emma Foster, Erin Heydenriech, David Ellifrit, Kelley Balcomb-Bartok, Kim Parsons, and John Durban for helpful discussions and guidance at multiple stages of the project. The research team and naturalists based at The Whale Museum and Lime Kiln Point Lighthouse made opportunistic recordings and behavioral data recordings during whale passes; Bob Otis, Jeanne Hyde, Monica Weiland, and Traci Walter deserve particular mention. Jason Wood and Stefan Brager kindly provided me with the SeaSound acoustic data and associated sighting records, as well as helpful discussion early in the project. Susan Berta and Howard Garret of OrcaNetwork and the Langley Whale Center provided additional compilations of whale sightings. The acoustics team, particularly Marla Holt and Candice Emmons, for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Northwest Fisheries Science Center graciously shared available data for L pod acoustic recordings. Candice Emmons was especially helpful with verifying call identifications. Recordings contributed by the NOAA Northwest Fisheries Science Center were collected under the authorization of Scientific Research Permit No.781-1824-00 of the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service, Office of Protected Resources. iv Lastly, but not least, I wish to thank my thesis committee, Stan Kuczaj, Sheree Watson, and Alen Hajnal, as well as John K. B. Ford for the many helpful comments and recommendations that shaped the entirety of this project. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... ii DEDICATION ................................................................................................................... iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...................................................................................................v LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ........................................................................................... viii LIST OF TABLES ...............................................................................................................x CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................1 Background Information and Literature Review Species of Interest Study Subjects: Southern Resident Killer Whale Community Study Objectives II. METHODOLOGY .....................................................................................13 Field Sightings and Recordings Acoustic Analysis III. DATA ANALYSIS AND RESULTS ........................................................21 Field Sightings and Recordings Acoustic Analysis IV. DISCUSSION .............................................................................................43 APPENDIXES ...................................................................................................................54 REFERENCES ..................................................................................................................74 vi LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Figure 1. Example of a killer whale matriline. The long dashed line represents probable relations, while short dashed lines represent possible relations. All of the individuals depicted here often travel together as a group, known collectively as the L12s. Image courtesy of the Center for Whale Research (Ellifrit, Heydenreich, & Balcomb III, 2011). Note: L112 is considered deceased as of 2012..........................................................................................................................9 2. Study area. The yellow star (not to scale) denotes the approximate location of the Lime Kiln Lighthouse SeaSound hydrophone array on San Juan Island. Additional recordings were gathered by NOAA Northwest Fisheries Science Center from the surrounding waters of San Juan Island (Haro Strait and the Strait of Juan de Fuca). ....................................................................................................14 3. Stereotyped call occurrence across all encounters. Top) Total number of discrete calls identified in the current study; Bottom) Call proportions were calculated for each unique call bout and averaged across each call type and subtype. n =745 (single calls not included). .....................................................................................24 4. Subpod variation in discrete call use. Tom) Total number of discrete calls identified for the L01 and L12 subpods in current study. Bottom) Call proportions were calculated for each call bout within an acoustic encounter and averaged across each call type and subtype. Note: One S18 call was noted by the L12s (.08% of repertoire use), but value is too small to present in the histogram. n =71325 5. Matrilineal variation in stereotyped call use. Top) Total number of discrete calls identified for the L01 and L12 subpods in current study. Bottom) Call proportions were calculated within each bout then averaged overall. n =713. .........................28 6. Percent use of call S31 by the L21 Mat. Values above represent the proportion call S31 was used per acoustic encounter. Proportional use on 8/12/2008 and 9/16/2011 showed a positive, but insignificant, trend in call use compared to that observed on 7/26/2007, coinciding with two possible activities of vocal imprinting……………………...…………………………………………………29 7. Acoustic similarity of L matrilines. Acoustic similarity indices derived from a modified Dice’s coefficient based on the level of call type and subtype sharing between matrilines. Acoustic similarity clustering also reflects the level of social affiliation between these matrilines .......................................................................31 8.
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