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Killer whale harrassment of Adélie penguins at Ross Island

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 August 2005

GRANT BALLARD
Affiliation:
PRBO Conservation Science, 4990 Shoreline Highway 1, Stinson Beach, CA 94970, USA
DAVID G. AINLEY
Affiliation:
H.T. Harvey & Associates, 3150 Almaden Expressway, Suite 145, San Jose CA 95118, USA

Extract

On innumerable occasions, Adélie (Pygoscelis adeliae) and emperor penguins (Aptenodytes forsteri) have been observed in close proximity to killer whales (Orcinus orca), with no whale-penguin interactions reported. On the other hand, killer whales reportedly harass and eat seabirds on occasion (Walker 1968: p. 1122, Stacey et al. 1990, Williams et al. 1990). Killer whales are known to prey on young king penguins (A. patagonica) as they are fledging (Guinet 1992, Guinet & Bouvier 1995) and occasionally take emperor penguins (Mikhalev et al. 1981). Thomas et al. (1981) report killer whales chasing Adélies. Here we report the only observations of Adélie-killer whale interactions observed in nine field seasons on Ross Island.

Type
Short Note
Copyright
© Antarctic Science Ltd 2005

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