Orca, or killer whales, have a wide range of foraging behaviors.  For transient or Bigg's killer whales, this involves hunting other marine mammals- prey that is also very intelligent.  In this battle of wits, killer whales have found a variety of ways to aprehend their prey.  Strand feeding, where the killer whale intentially or strands (or beaches) themselves on shore to try and capture seals, has been documented in a few places around the world.  But for the first time this has been described for killer whales in the Salish Sea.  This is a risky behavior, because if you are a killer whale and go too far up the beach and out of the water, you many not be able to get back.  Here we discuss this unique event, how it is similar and different compared to other locations, and the implications this behavior may (if learned by more killer whales) have on harbor seal behavior and habitat choice.  

Paper available at: https://doi.org/10.1578/AM.46.6.2020.556

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Join Pacific Mammal Research (PacMam) scientists to learn about 3 different marine mammals each episode!  We discuss a little about the biology, behavior and fun facts about each species.  Have fun and learn about marine mammals with PacMam!  

This week: Sea otters/urchins/kelp, dolphins and tuna, and commensalists!  

Presenters: Cindy Elliser, Katrina MacIver, Trevor Derie  Music by Josh Burns

Microplastics are a hot topic right now in many areas of science. We are finding plastic everywhere, and in animals around the world - even in the deepest parts of the ocean.  Microplastics are small, often microscopic pieces of plastic.  The question now is how are this type of plastic affecting our oceans, the animals in it, and us?  In this paper researchers looked at microplastic abundance in bottlenose dolphins in South Carolina, spoiler - they found them!  But there is more to this story (and where you may find microplastics), so join us to find out more!

Paper available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0025326X20307955

Help us continue to provide content like this by donating: https://pacmam.org/wp/donate/

Join Pacific Mammal Research (PacMam) scientists to learn about different marine mammals each episode! We discuss a little about the biology, behavior and fun facts about each species. Have fun and learn about marine mammals with PacMam!  

This week: Whale poop and whale falls (when a whale dies and sinks in deep water)!  Did you know that whale poop can help us combat climate change, and even after a whale dies they are an important part of the marine ecosystem (some species are only found where whales die and sink)?  Join us to learn all about it!    

Presenters: Cindy Elliser, Katrina MacIver, Trevor Derie  

Music by Josh Burns

Many seals (especially young juveniles/pups) in Atlantic waters have stranded with odd spiral, or corkscrew, lacerations.  There have been many hypotheses over the years as to how these injuries occurred, but researchers have recently uncovered the truth, and it was suprising to say the least.  Join us as we discuss how the mystery was solved, who was the culprit (spoiler: grey seals!), what else researchers have discovered (evidence for cannabalism for one!) and why this is important to understand for the health of all species involved.

Warning: the description of the attacks may be graphic for some listeners (we note this in the podcast so you know when it is coming up)

Referenced papers available at:

Brownlow et al. 2016 (open access): https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0156464

van Neer et al. 2019: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1385110118303368

Help us continue to provide content like this by donating: https://pacmam.org/wp/donate/

Join Pacific Mammal Research (PacMam) scientists to learn about different marine mammals each episode! We discuss a little about the biology, behavior and fun facts about each species. Have fun and learn about marine mammals with PacMam!  

This week: Foraging strategies: bottlenose dolphin edition!  Bottlenose dolphins have a lot of different, unique, ways to catch their prey.  Here we highlight some of the coolest (we think) foraging strategies from bottlenose dolphin populations around the world.   

Presenters: Cindy Elliser, Katrina MacIver, Trevor Derie  

Music by Josh Burns

Join us as we talk with Michelle Greenfield, the founder and host of the new podcast, Aquadocs!  We are chatting with Michelle about her story, how she got to where she is, how she became interested in marine mammals, and aquatic medicine in general and learn about all the different ways you can work in this field.  We also learn what a typical day in the life of an aquatic vet looks like - spoilers, it can be very different depending your animal subjects and very interesting! So join us as we delve into the world of aquatic medicine, of course with an emphasis on marine mammals!  

Be sure to check out Michelle's podcast at: https://anchor.fm/aquadocs and http://www.aquadocspodcast.com/about.html

Help us continue to provide content like this by donating: https://pacmam.org/wp/donate/

Join us as we talk about a recent paper that was published this year about postmortem attentive behavior (PAB) by humpback whales toward a deceased gray whale calf.  This type of behavior is rarely observed in mysticetes (baleen whales), and the fact that it was between 2 different species makes it even more unique.  Why would humpback whales be interested in a gray whale calf recently killed by killer whales (who were still feeding on the carcass)?  Is there a benefit to the humpback whales to do this, or is it just curiosity? Is this something that happens more often, it is just we aren't there to observe it?  Join us as we ponder these questions and discuss this unique event! 

Check out the article here: https://www.aquaticmammalsjournal.org/

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Sponsorships: on for this episode

Join Pacific Mammal Research (PacMam) scientists to learn about different marine mammals each episode! We discuss a little about the biology, behavior and fun facts about each species. Have fun and learn about marine mammals with PacMam!  

This week: Foraging strategies: Sperm whales, crabeater seals and gray whales!  There are a lot of different ways to catch your prey, here we highlight some of the more unique strategies some pretty cool marine mammals use.   

Presenters: Cindy Elliser, Katrina MacIver, Trevor Derie  

Music by Josh Burns

Join us as we talk about a recent paper that was published about a hybrid animal that may be the largest hybrid on Earth!  The blue whale is the largest whale (and the largest animal to have ever lived - yes even larger than dinosaurs!), and the fin whale is the second largest.  Well, when they mate and produce a hybrid offspring, that is a pretty big hybrid whale!  Learn about how scientists discovered these hybrids exist, why it is difficult to identify them, why this may be occurring (and why only in one direction) and what it means for the populations of both species.

Check out the article here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/eva.13091

Help us continue to provide content like this by donating: https://pacmam.org/wp/donate/