Female orcas with young calves avoid areas where boat noise permeates through the ocean subsurface, according to new research from scientists at the University of Washington and NOAA Fisheries.
Hungry males, however, will hunt regardless of low-frequency droning from vessels, the researchers found. But the noise interferes with their highly attuned hunting instincts and diminishes their chances of finding food.
According to a study published Tuesday in the journal Global Change Biology, the passing of vessels through Pacific Ocean orca habitat “interferes with multiple phases of foraging and overall success in an apex predator that relies on sound to facilitate foraging” and “reduced searching efficiency in fish-eating killer whales.”
Few ocean predators capture the public’s imagination more than orcas, or killer whales, whose black dorsal fins and white “eye patches” make them among the most recognizable marine mammals in the world. They are also less elusive than some other marine mammals, building their popularity among tourists from Monterey Bay, California, to the San Juan Islands off Washington state.
