Dietary variation within and between populations of northeast Atlantic killer whales Orcinus orca, inferred from δ13C and δ15N analyses.

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  • Andrew David Foote
  • Heike Vester
  • Gísli A. Vikingsson
  • Jason Newton
Epidermal skin samples from eastern North Atlantic killer whales, Orcinus orca, were analyzed for carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios. From those, compar- isons within a data set of 17 samples collected from Tysfjord, Norway, in November suggested that diet is relatively specialized during this time period at this loca- tion. There were significant differences between a small set of samples from Iceland and those collected from Norway, which had all been assigned to the same pop- ulation by a previous population genetics study. The results would be consistent with matrilines feeding on either the Norwegian or Icelandic stocks of Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus). There was no significant difference within Icelandic sam- ples between those assigned to the population known to feed upon herring and those assigned to a population hypothesized to follow Atlantic mackerel (Scomber scombrus). The greatest differences were between the epidermal samples analyzed in this study and tooth and bone collagen samples from the North Sea that were an- alyzed previously, which also showed significantly more variation in isotopic ratios than found for skin samples. These differences could reflect differences in turnover rate, differences in diet-tissue fractionation and discrimination due to the amino acid composition of the different tissues, and/or greater competition promoting dietary variation between groups in the North Sea.
Original languageEnglish
JournalMarine Mammal Science
Volume28
Issue number4
Pages (from-to)E472-E485
Number of pages14
ISSN0824-0469
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Oct 2012

ID: 44119383