Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-mlc7c Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T11:51:46.109Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The most southerly worldwide sightings of pygmy killer whales (Feresa attenuata)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 May 2014

Kylie Owen  and
David Donnelly
Kylie Owen*
Affiliation:
Cetacean Ecology and Acoustics Laboratory, School of Veterinary Science, The University of Queensland, Gatton, QLD, Australia, 4343
David Donnelly
Affiliation:
Australian Orca Database, 8 Campbell Parade, Box Hill South, VIC, Australia, 3128
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: K. Owen, Cetacean Ecology and Acoustics Laboratory, School of Veterinary Science, The University of Queensland, Gatton, QLD, 4343, Australia email: kylie.owen@uqconnect.edu.au
Get access

Abstract

The pygmy killer whale (Feresa attenuata) is a rarely sighted cetacean species that is currently believed to be confined to tropical and subtropical waters. This paper presents four sightings off the east coast of Australia that are believed to be the most southerly sightings of pygmy killer whales worldwide (approximately 37.31°S) and extend the range of this species into temperate regions of Australia. Group sizes ranged from 20–70 individuals and on two occasions a second cetacean species was noted in the presence of the pygmy killer whales. All four sightings occurred when water temperatures were particularly warm for the area (21–25.8°C) and demonstrate the potential for changes in the strength of warm water currents to influence species distributions.

Keywords

distributionEast Australian CurrentFeresa attenuatapygmy killer whalesouthern
Type
Research Article
Information
Marine Biodiversity Records , Volume 7 , 2014 , e46
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Best, P.B. (1970) Records of the pygmy killer whale, Feresa attenuata, from southern Africa, with notes on behaviour in captivity. Annals of the South African Museum 57, 1–14.Google Scholar
Booth, D., Edgar, G., Figueira, W., Jenkins, G., Kingsford, M., Lenanton, R. and Thresher, R. (2009) Temperate coastal and demersal fish and climate change. In Poloczanska, E.S., Hobday, A.J. and Richardson, A.J. (eds) A Marine Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Report Card for Australia 2009. National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility Publication 05/09.Google Scholar
Bryden, M.M. (1976) Observations on a pygmy killer whale, Feresa attentuata, stranded on the east coast of Australia. Australian Wildlife Research 3, 21–28.Google Scholar
Caldwell, D.K. and Caldwell, M.C. (1971) The pygmy killer whale, Feresa attenuata, in the western Atlantic, with a summary of world records. Journal of Mammalogy 52, 206–209.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carwardine, M. (1995) Whales, dolphins and porpoises. London: Dorling Kindersley, 257 pp.Google Scholar
Hobday, A.J., Griffiths, S. and Ward, T. (2009) Pelagic fishes and sharks. In Poloczanska, E.S., Hobday, A.J. and Richardson, A.J. (eds) A Marine Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Report Card for Australia 2009. National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility Publication 05/09.Google Scholar
Kemper, C. (2008) Analysis of South Australian Museum's cetacean data: distribution, seasonal trends and circumstance of ‘death’. Consultancy report for Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts (2008/05955).Google Scholar
Leatherwood, S. and Reeves, R.R. (1983) The Sierra Club handbook of whales and dolphins. San Francisco, CA: Sierra Club Books, 302 pp.Google Scholar
Lichter, A., Fraga, F. and Castello, H. (1990) First record of the pygmy killer whale, Feresa attenuata, in the southwest Atlantic. Marine Mammal Science 6, 85–86.Google Scholar
Lough, J.M. (2009) Temperature. In Poloczanska, E.S., Hobday, A.J. and Richardson, A.J. (eds) A Marine Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Report Card for Australia 2009. National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility Publication 05/09.Google Scholar
McSweeney, D.J., Baird, R.W., Mahaffy, S.D., Webster, D.L. and Schorr, G.S. (2009) Site fidelity and association patterns of a rare species: pygmy killer whales (Feresa attentuata) in the Hawaiian Islands. Marine Mammal Science 25, 557–572.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Munday, P.L., Cheal, A.J., Graham, N.A.J., Meekan, M., Pratchett, M.S., Sheaves, M., Sweatman, H. and Wilson, S.K. (2009) Tropical coastal fish. In Poloczanska, E.S., Hobday, A.J. and Richardson, A.J. (eds) A Marine Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Report Card for Australia 2009. National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility Publication 05/09.Google Scholar
Perryman, W.L. and Foster, T.C. (1980) Preliminary report on predation by small whales, mainly the false killer whales (Pseudorca crassidens) on dolphins (Stenella sp. and Delphinus delphis) in the eastern tropical Pacific. South West Fisheries Centre Administration Report, LJ 8005:9.Google Scholar
Richardson, A.J., McKinnon, D. and Swadling, K.M. (2009) Zooplankton. In Poloczanska, E.S., Hobday, A.J. and Richardson, A.J. (eds) A Marine Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Report Card for Australia 2009. National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility Publication 05/09.Google Scholar
Ridgway, K. and Hill, K. (2009) The East Australian Current. In Poloczanska, E.S., Hobday, A.J. and Richardson, A.J. (eds) A Marine Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Report Card for Australia 2009. NCCARF Publication 05/09, ISBN 978-1-921609-03-9.Google Scholar
Ross, G.J.B. and Leatherwood, S. (1994) Pygmy killer whale Feresa attenuata Gray, 1874. In Ridgway, S.H. and Harrison, R.J. (eds) Handbook of marine mammals. 5th edition. London: Academic Press, pp. 387–404.Google Scholar
Ross, G.J.B. (2006) Review of the conservation status of Australia's smaller whales and dolphins. Canberra, Australia: Department of the Environment and Heritage.Google Scholar
Shirihai, H. (2006) Whales, dolphins and seals. London: A&C Black Publishers.Google Scholar
Siciliano, S., Moreno, I.B. and Silva, E.D.E. (2008) Early sightings of the pygmy killer whale (Feresa attenuata) off the Brazilian coast: a correction to Rossi-Santos et al. (2006). Marine Biodiversity Records e78, 1–3. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1755267207007993.Google Scholar
Williams, A.D., Williams, R. and Brereton, T. (2002) The sighting of pygmy killer whales (Feresa attenuata) in the southern Bay of Biscay and their association with cetacean calves. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 82, 509–511.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yamada, M. (1954) An account of a rare porpoise, Feresa Gray from Japan. Scientific Reports of the Whales Research Institute, Tokyo 9, 59–88.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: Image

Owen and Donnelly Supplementary Material

Figure 1

Download Owen and Donnelly Supplementary Material(Image)
Image 65.5 KB
Supplementary material: Image

Owen and Donnelly Supplementary Material

Figure 2

Download Owen and Donnelly Supplementary Material(Image)
Image 108.2 KB
Supplementary material: Image

Owen and Donnelly Supplementary Material

Figure 3

Download Owen and Donnelly Supplementary Material(Image)
Image 68.1 KB
Supplementary material: Image

Owen and Donnelly Supplementary Material

Figure 4

Download Owen and Donnelly Supplementary Material(Image)
Image 3.2 MB