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Species and stock identification of prey consumed by endangered southern resident killer whales in their summer range

2009; Inter-Research; Volume: 11; Linguagem: Inglês

10.3354/esr00263

1863-5407

M. Bradley Hanson, Robin W. Baird, JKB Ford, J Hempelmann-Halos, Donald M. Van Doornik, JR Candy, CK Emmons, GS Schorr, Brian Gisborne, K.L. Ayres, SK Wasser, KC Balcomb, Kelley Balcomb-Bartok, J.G. Sneva, Michael J. Ford,

Marine and coastal plant biology

ESR Endangered Species Research Contact the journal Facebook (Twitter) RSS Mailing List Receive regular lists of newly published ESR articles via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsSpecials ESR 11:69-82 (2010) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/esr00263 Species and stock identification of prey consumed by endangered southern resident killer whales in their summer range M. Bradley Hanson1,*, Robin W. Baird2, John K. B. Ford3, Jennifer Hempelmann-Halos1, Donald M. Van Doornik4, John R. Candy3, Candice K. Emmons1, Gregory S. Schorr 2, Brian Gisborne3, Katherine L. Ayres5, Samuel K. Wasser5, Kenneth C. Balcomb6, Kelley Balcomb-Bartok6,8, John G. Sneva7, Michael J. Ford1 1National Marine Fisheries Service, Northwest Fisheries Science Center, Seattle, Washington 98112, USA 2Cascadia Research Collective, Olympia, Washington 98501, USA 3Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Pacific Biological Station, Nanaimo, British Columbia V9T 6N7, Canada 4Northwest Fisheries Science Center, Manchester Research Station, Manchester, Washington 98353, USA 5University of Washington, Center for Conservation Biology, Department of Biology, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA 6Center for Whale Research, Friday Harbor, Washington 98250, USA 7Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Olympia, Washington 98501, USA 8Present address: Renton City Hall, Renton, Washington 98057, USA *Email: brad.hanson@noaa.gov ABSTRACT: Recovery plans for endangered southern resident killer whales Orcinus orca have identified reduced prey availability as a risk to the population. In order to better assess this risk, we studied prey selection from 2004 to 2008 in 2 regions of the whales’ summer range: San Juan Islands, Washington and the western Strait of Juan de Fuca, British Columbia. Following the whales in a small boat, we collected fish scales and tissue remains from predation events, and feces, using a fine mesh net. Visual fish scale analysis and molecular genetic methods were used to identify the species consumed. Chinook salmon, a relatively rare species, was by far the most frequent prey item, confirming previous studies. For Chinook salmon prey, we used genetic identification methods to estimate the spawning region of origin. Of the Chinook salmon sampled, 80 to 90% were inferred to have originated from the Fraser River, and only 6 to 14% were inferred to have originated from Puget Sound area rivers. Within the Fraser River, the Upper Fraser, Middle Fraser, South Thompson River and Lower Fraser stocks were inferred to currently be sequentially important sources of Chinook salmon prey through the summer. This information will be of significant value in guiding management actions to recover the southern resident killer whale population. KEY WORDS: Resident killer whales · Prey selection · Chinook salmon · Genetic stock identification Full text in pdf format Cite this article as: Hanson MB, Baird RW, Ford JKB, Hempelmann-Halos J and others (2010) Species and stock identification of prey consumed by endangered southern resident killer whales in their summer range. Endang Species Res 11:69-82. https://doi.org/10.3354/esr00263 Export citation Share: Facebook - - linkedIn Cited by Published in ESR Vol. 11, No. 1. Online publication date: March 11, 2010 Print ISSN: 1863-5407; Online ISSN: 1613-4796 Copyright © 2010 Inter-Research. Previous article Next article