'Killer whale' sighted off Norfolk coast at Sheringham

Reports that a killer whale has been sighted off the Norfolk coast have been described as "highly reliable" by an expert on mammals.

County mammal recorder Dr David Leech said claims of a whale sighting by birdwatchers at Sheringham could be the first ever recorded in Norfolk.

The experience of one observer meant there was good cause to believe the sighting was reliable.

Possible reasons for the whale's presence are food or it was off course.

Birdwatcher Giles Dunmore, who has experience spotting several killer whales around the world, recorded the sighting last Thursday morning while scanning for sea birds with friend Phil Vines.

He said the pair's field notes and sketches were currently being collated to pass on to the Norfolk Biological Information Service (NBIS), at County Hall, to confirm the identity of the wandering whale.

Read on:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-17011462

Whales not slaves because they are not people, judge in SeaWorld case rules

A US federal judge has thrown out an animal rights group's lawsuit accusing SeaWorld of enslaving captive killer whales, ruling that orcas have no standing to seek the same constitutional rights as people.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) had accused the chain of aquatic theme parks of violating the rights of whales under the 13th amendment of the US constitution, which abolished slavery.

The lawsuit, filed in the US district court of San Diego, listed as plaintiffs five performing orcas at SeaWorld's parks in California and Florida: Tilikum, Katina, Corky, Kasatka and Ulises.

"The only reasonable interpretation of the 13th amendment's plain language is that it applies to persons and not to non-persons such as orcas," US district judge Jeffrey Miller wrote in his ruling.

"Both historic and contemporary sources reveal that the term 'slavery' and 'involuntary servitude' refer only to persons."

The 13th amendment was enacted in 1865, the year the US civil war ended.

Legal experts previously denounced as frivolous the Peta lawsuit, which had sought a court order requiring SeaWorld to release the five killer whales to a "suitable habitat".

Miller noted in his ruling that animals did have legal rights under state and federal statutes, including criminal laws.

He added the "goal" of Peta attorneys who brought the lawsuit "to protect the welfare of orcas is laudable" even if the 13th Amendment was not the correct way to approach the case.

David Steinberg, a professor at the Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego, told Reuters when the lawsuit was filed in October that it was "demeaning [to] the integrity and humanity of people who were owned as slaves".

Virginia-based Peta has staked out a number of controversial positions in the past in seeking to advance the cause of animal rights.

In 2003 the Anti-Defamation League accused Peta of trivialising the deaths of Jews in the second world war with a campaign that compared the meat industry to the Holocaust.

Colleen O'Brien, a spokeswoman for Peta, said in a statement that her organisation would regroup as a result of the dismissal of "this historic first case" on behalf of orcas.

"Today's decision does not change the fact that the orcas who once lived naturally wild and free are today kept as slaves by SeaWorld," O'Brien said.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/feb/09/whales-not-slaves-judge-seaworld

SeaWorld sued over 'enslaved' killer whales

Five killer whales have been named as plaintiffs in a lawsuit which argues they deserve the same constitutional protection from slavery as humans.

A US judge is considering a complaint by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals' (Peta) against SeaWorld.

It is reportedly the first time a US court has heard legal arguments over whether animals should enjoy the same constitutional protections as humans.

SeaWorld's legal team said the case was a waste of time and resources.

The marine park's lawyer, Theodore Shaw, told the court in San Diego: "Neither orcas nor any other animal were included in the 'We the people'... when the Constitution was adopted."

He said that if the case were successful, it could have implications not just on how other marine parks or zoos operate, but even on the police use of sniffer dogs to detect bombs and drugs.

'Historic case'

Peta says the killer whales are treated like slaves for being forced to live in tanks and perform daily at the SeaWorld parks in California and Florida.

It is not considered likely that the whales will win their freedom, but campaigners said they were pleased the case even made it to a courtroom.

The lawsuit invokes the 13th Amendment to the constitution, which abolished "slavery or involuntary servitude" in the US.

Jeffrey Kerr, the lawyer representing the five whales, said: "For the first time in our nation's history, a federal court heard arguments as to whether living, breathing, feeling beings have rights and can be enslaved simply because they happen to not have been born human.

"By any definition these orcas have been enslaved here."

Hearing the arguments for about an hour, US District Judge Jeffrey Miller raised concerns over whether animals could be represented as plaintiffs in a lawsuit.

He will issue a ruling at a later date.

Peta names the five wild-captured orca plaintiffs as Tilikum and Katina, at SeaWorld Orlando; and Kasatka, Corky, and Ulises, at SeaWorld San Diego.

It is not Tilikum's first time in the media spotlight - he drowned his trainer before horrified spectators in February 2010, prompting a ban on the Florida park's employees entering the water to perform tricks with the orcas.

The same whale has also been linked to two other deaths.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-16920866

What Do Killer Whales Eat in the Arctic?

ScienceDaily (Jan. 29, 2012) — Killer whales (Orcinus orca) are the top marine predator, wherever they are found, and seem to eat everything from schools of small fish to large baleen whales, over twice their own size. The increase in hunting territories available to killer whales in the Arctic due to climate change and melting sea ice could seriously affect the marine ecosystem balance. New research published in BioMed Central's re-launched open access journal Aquatic Biosystems has combined scientific observations with Canadian Inuit traditional knowledge to determine killer whale behaviour and diet in the Arctic.

Orca have been studied extensively in the northeast Pacific ocean, where resident killer whales eat fish, but migrating whales eat marine mammals. Five separate ecotypes in the Antarctic have been identified, each preferring a different type of food, and similar patterns have been found in the Atlantic, tropical Pacific, and Indian oceans. However, little is known about Arctic killer whale prey preference or behaviour.

Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) is increasingly being used to supplement scientific observations. Researchers from Manitoba visited 11 Canadian Nunavut Inuit communities and collated information from over 100 interviews with hunters and elders.

The Inuit reported that killer whales would 'eat whatever they can catch', mainly other marine mammals including seals (ringed, harp, bearded, and hooded) and whales (narwhal, beluga and bowhead). However there was no indication that Arctic killer whales ate fish. Only seven of the interviewees suggested that killer whales ate fish, but none of them had ever seen it themselves.

The type of reported prey varied between areas. Most incidents of killer whales eating bowhead whales occurred in Foxe Basin and narwhal predation was more frequent around Baffin Island. Inuit were also able to describe first-hand how killer whales hunted, including several reports of how killer whales co-operated to kill the much larger bowhead. During the hunt some whales were seen holding the bowhead's flippers or tail, others covering its blowhole, and others biting or ramming to cause internal damage. Occasionally dead bowheads, with bite marks and internal injuries but with very little eaten, are found by locals.

'Aarlirijuk', the fear of killer whales, influenced prey behaviour with smaller mammals seeking refuge in shallow waters or on shore and larger prey running away, diving deep, or attempting to hide among the ice. Even narwhal, which are capable of stabbing a killer whale with their tusks (although this is likely to result in the deaths of both animals), will run to shallow waters and wait until the whales give up.

Killer whales are seasonal visitors to the area and have recently started colonising Hudson Bay (possibly due to loss of summer sea ice with global warming). Local communities are reliant on the very species that the orcas like to eat. Dr Steven Ferguson from the University of Manitoba who led this research commented, "Utilising local knowledge through TEK will help scientists understand the effects of global warming and loss of sea ice on Arctic species and improve collaborative conservation efforts in conjunction with local communities."

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120129232818.htm

Crowds thrilled as whales feast on birds

A POD of four killer whales kept a crowd of wildlife watchers entranced for hours on a still afternoon in Shetland on Sunday.

An adult female orca led one immature whale and two even younger whales from the south west tip of Shetland at West Voe round to the east of the islands, swimming up to Mousa Sound where they were last seen in the afternoon as it got dark.

Shetland Wildlife tour operator Hugh Harrop said upwards of 200 people were watching the whales by the afternoon, causing gridlock on the roads in the area as more people heard about their arrival.

Mr Harrop said the most exciting part of the experience was observing the two youngest whales catching small birds, an unusual but not unheard of spectacle.

“We witnessed the two young ones turning on a sixpence, diving and slapping their tails and watched a long tailed duck come to a bitter end. When I got home and downloaded the images I could see there were loads of black guillemots there too,” he said.

“The youngest whales were certainly hunting birds, which is unusual but not unknown in Shetland where there have been at least two documented cases.”

He suggested it was probably play rather than hunger that brought about such behaviour. “Pretty much anything marine is on their diet,” he added.

Killer whales are regular visitors to Shetland waters and Mr Harrop said he would be sending details of this latest sighting to Dr Andy Foote of the North Atlantic Killer Whale ID (NAKID) Project to add to the growing information base on these creatures.

You can keep up to date with the latest wildlife news at http://www.facebook.com/shetlandwildlife

 http://www.shetnews.co.uk/news/2969-crowds-thrilled-as-whales-feast-on-birds.html

Killer whales spotted off Cornish coast

Two killer whales were spotted by walker Dom Clarke 100 metres off the coast of Cornwall.


Mr Clarke saw the endangered predators swimming along the British coastline whilst walking along the coast of Padstow.


Mr Clarke, who runs Explore the Shore, a rock pool exploration company, saw a six metre long whale and then a second smaller one, thought to be a calf.

The sighting comes as experts reveal more predators like sperm and killer whales - also known as orcas - are flocking to British shores due to warmer sea temperatures.

Mr Clarke said: "I couldn't believe it, it is certainly not what you expect to see while you're walking your dog.

"It's not totally unheard of for killer whales to be off the coast of England but it's certainly incredibly rare.

"It was amazing how clearly they could be seen. I first noticed a magnificent dorsal fin coming out of the water.


"People look out for porpoises and dolphins in Cornwall but you don't expect to see a killer whale.

"There was another man walking too and I grabbed his binoculars to get a better look.

"There was no mistaking what it was. I was just gutted I didn't have a camera."

Killer whales have a distinctive black and white colouring and males can grow up to eight metres (26ft) long and their dorsal fins can reach up to two metres (6ft).

They are the largest members of the dolphin family, weighing up to six tonnes, and are typically found in the Arctic and Antarctic seas and in warmer waters like the coast of Australia.

The sighting, which was made last week, follows news that more predators are likely to be found in waters around the South West of England as water temperatures rise.

It is thought that some species are hunting for new territories as global warming bites.

A dwarf sperm whale was spotted for the first time in the UK off the coast of Mount's Bay, in Cornwall, this autumn.

And experts now expect the 16-metre (52ft) grey whale to one day be found in water around Cornwall.

The whales, which can weigh 36 tonnes are usually found in the North Pacific and North Atlantic oceans.

Peter Evans, director of the Sea Watch Foundation, said: "We are now seeing a number of species far from home, and they probably will continue to recur with increasing frequency.

"Several are normally found off West Africa. For the moment they tend to be seen at times of year when our sea temperatures are at their warmest.

"Whales and dolphins can cope with a wide range of temperatures but their fish and squid prey tends to be more constrained, and their ranges are extending significantly northwards.

"The dwarf sperm whale was a big surprise when it was spotted.

"If the fish are extending their range, as we know many are, then the whales and dolphins will follow.

"Anchovies for example were really quite scarce in the North Sea 10 to 20 years ago.

"Now they are widespread and may be why the common dolphin is now a regular in the North Sea."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/wildlife/8937921/Killer-whales-spotted-off-Cornish-coast.html

Fury as Dutch court prevents young orca's return to the wild

Morgan to be moved to Canary Islands zoo

November 2011: A court in the Netherlands has decided that a rescued young female orca being held at a Dutch dolphinarium is to remain in captivity.

Morgan, who was rescued from the Wadden Sea in June last year, has been kept at Harderwijk dolphinarium but will now be transferred to the LoroParque zoo in the Canary Islands.

WDCS (Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society) says it is disheartened by the decision, which flies in the face of expert advice, who agreed the orca was a potential candidate for release.

Any hope of release has now goneFears now grow for Morgan's health and welfare as she will be introduced into a new captive environment, to orcas who are strangers to her, and to the circus-style shows at LoroParque.

WDCS is a member of the Free Morgan Group which has developed a multi-stage release plan for Morgan in the hope of providing her with the opportunity to return to the wild rather than remain in captivity.

Sadly, it looks as though that hope is now gone. In captivity, orcas suffer a significantly reduced survival rate, low breeding success and stress, which can lead to aggression between themselves and towards trainers, illness and even death.

Orca live less than 9 years in captivity – in the wild it's nearer 50A Free Morgan Group spokesperson said: ‘Despite overwhelming evidence provided by world renowned orca researchers, the best interests of Morgan have not been met. It has been designated that she will be sent to a life of permanent captivity in a barren concrete tank. Realistically this is nothing short of a death sentence for Morgan, as orca in captivity only live an average of 8.5 years, compared to more than 50 years in the wild.

‘It is disgraceful that a country such as the Netherlands, known around the world for their humanitarian and animal welfare compassion, should have allowed this to happen. Clearly, ulterior motivations such as money and entertainment have presided over the welfare interests of Morgan.'

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/morgan-captivity.html#cr

Antarctic Killer Whales May Seek Spa-Like Relief in the Tropics

ScienceDaily (Oct. 26, 2011) — NOAA researchers offer a novel explanation for why a type of Antarctic killer whale performs a rapid migration to warmer tropical waters. Scientists believe that warmer waters help the whales regenerate skin faster, after spending months coated with algae in colder waters.

"The whales are traveling so quickly, and in such a consistent track, that it is unlikely they are foraging for food or giving birth," said John Durban, lead author from NOAA's Southwest Fisheries Science Center in La Jolla, California. "We believe these movements are likely undertaken to help the whales regenerate skin tissue in a warmer environment with less heat loss."

As evidence, the researchers point to the yellowish coating on Antarctic killer whales caused by a thick accumulation of diatoms or algae on the outer skin of the animals. The coloring is noticeably absent when they return from warmer waters indicating the upper epidermis of the skin has been shed.
One tagged Antarctic killer whale monitored by satellite traveled over 5,000 miles to visit the warm waters off southern Brazil before returning immediately to Antarctica just 42 days later. This was the first long distance migration ever reported for killer whales.

The coloring is noticeably absent when they return from warmer waters indicating the upper layer of skin has been shed. The scientists tagged 12 Type B killer whales (seal-feeding specialists) near the Antarctic Peninsula and tracked 5 that revealed consistent movement to sub-tropical waters. The whales tended to slow in the warmest waters although there was no obvious interruption in swim speed or direction to indicate calving or prolonged feeding.

"They went to the edge of the tropics at high speed, turned around and came straight back to Antarctica, at the onset of winter," said Robert Pitman, co-author of the study. "The standard feeding or breeding migration does not seem to apply here."

Researchers believe there are at least three different types of killer whales in Antarctica and have labeled them Types A, B and C.


http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111026113824.htm

Extinction looms for last killer whale pod

FOR at least three decades they have made the waters off the west of Scotland their own, delighting visitors and residents alike.

 

But now it seems the country's only resident pod of killer whales is doomed to extinction and pollution could be to blame.

The nine whales have failed to produce a single surviving calf in 20 years and Dr Andy Foote, a world-renowned expert on orcas, believes time has run out for the four males and five females.

The marine biologist has been studying the group, known as the West Coast Community, with the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust and the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group, since 1992. He said: "It's probably too late to save this group. I do believe that they will become extinct in our lifetime which is very regrettable since not many people even know that such a distinctive group of killer whales exist just off our coast."

Little is known about the isolated community, but Foote and the NAKID (North Atlantic Killer Whale ID) project have tracked the group using distinctive fin and body markings and scars to identify them as they move around their home territory.

Since 1981, around 255 sightings of the killer whales have been reported by members of the public from Mull to Tiree and Coll. Sightings have even been recorded off the west coast of Ireland and Wales.

Although there are regular sightings of other orcas off north-east Scotland, the west coasters are believed to be the only resident community - meaning they live in Scottish waters all year.

Observers have even named the community members, calling the males John Coe, Floppy Fin, Comet, and Aquarius. The females are Nicola, Lulu, Moneypenny - she is numbered 007 in the group - Puffin and Ocassus.

John Coe, named after a famous explorer, seems the most famous member of the soon-to-be-extinct family - perhaps because he has the most distinctive looking dorsal fin.

An adult male, Moon, has already disappeared and Foote fears this is just the beginning of the problems that the orcas face.

He believes contaminants could be one of the factors that has stopped the pod from successfully breeding.

"Female orcas store contaminants in their body fat and they pass some of the pollutants in their bodies to their calves when they're feeding. This is another possible reason why there have been no live calves seen."

Foote and the HWDT are appealing to the government for help. He said: "Fire retardants, pesticides and industrial manufacturing chemicals can end up in the water and it is likely that this is causing problems for the west coast group. If we successfully pass legislation that will reduce the amount of contaminants in the water, other countries will look to that and use us as an example, which could in turn help their populations of killer whales."

Such steps are almost certainly too late for John Coe and the rest of the group.

"With large animals like these, the hope of saving them is quite slim. We know they are decades old and the possibility of something like artificial insemination is very unlikely.

"Even if we were lucky enough to catch them, the mothers are almost definitely too old to breed again. Smaller cetaceans can sometimes be translocated if they are failing to breed, but again with their size, this is just not feasible."

Foote said the best they could hope for was to avoid similar tragedies befalling other orcas in Scottish waters.

"We've learned a lesson from this pod," he said. "We can use what we know now to prevent it happening again to our other killer whale communities."

He added: "We would love to learn more about them before they become extinct and the public can help us do that. We're appealing to anyone out there who may have pictures of the west coast group prior to 1992, so that it could help us to learn more about the pod.

"Old photos that haven't been submitted could help us determine how many individuals there were and perhaps how old they are now which could help us prepare for similar scenarios in the future."

Richard Fairbairns, founder of the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust said it would be a "tragedy" if the whales disappeared. "They're very old friends of ours. I was the one who named John Coe a long time ago and not long after that I set up the trust.

"When I first saw an orca off the coast of Coll in the early 1980s, everybody thought I was a complete nutcase. But thankfully, awareness has grown and the whales will have a better chance of surviving if more people know they exist."

Andy Jackson, managing director of Ardnamurchan Charters, which provides boat trips off the west coast of Scotland, said the whales were a major attraction for his passengers.

"But they're not just an attraction, they're an endangered species and that needs to be addressed.

"We're very concerned by the huge level of pollution in our water. Pollution, over-fishing and poor techniques like dredging will all impact this group terribly and you can imagine what it's doing to the less significant species as well."

By Niamh Anderson
http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/environment/Extinction-looms-for-last-killer.6838230.jp

Orca sighting unnerves triathlete

Close encounter in Oriental Bay
KIRAN CHUG
Last updated 05:00 09/03/2011

Triathlete Nicole Walker has always felt uneasy swimming in the ocean, but it was a close encounter with an orca at Oriental Bay that really left her shaking.

Miss Walker was on a training swim about 5pm on Monday, about 80 metres from shore, when she looked down into the water after taking a breath.

"It was just looking up at me, a big black and white face. I could have touched it."

She believes the orca was a calf, and though she "freaked out" and tried to swim as fast as she could for the shore, Miss Walker thinks the whale's head was about 80cm wide.

"It was swimming belly up underneath me. I couldn't believe my eyes."

Though she was swimming as fast as she could, seconds later she saw the orca swimming beneath her again. She was afraid it might come up underneath her "and either grab hold of me or hit me with its tail, and that would be the end of me".

Miss Walker said she was relieved it was an orca beneath her and not a shark, but was scared something might be chasing it.

Still about 40m or 50m from shore, Miss Walker – who was wearing a wetsuit – said she began to panic and look around her.

A group of people had been rowing in the bay, and a man on a rowing coaching boat with a small outboard motor had spotted Miss Walker's frantic swim and gone towards her.

She caught on to the side of the boat and he took her to shore – where she got out of the water shaken but very relieved.

Yesterday, Miss Walker said she was sure the orca had just been curious and wanted to play, but at the time that did not prevent her from panicking.

On shore, she saw a crowd of people had gathered as they could see a mother orca and possibly three calves in the bay.

Though Miss Walker had always felt a little uneasy swimming in the ocean, she had previously felt a bit more comfortable swimming in Wellington because she was in a bay.

However, now she was safely back on dry land she was not letting the experience interrupt training, and planning to get back out into the water tonight.

Conservation Department biodiversity programme manager Peter Simpson said there had been other reports of orca sightings in Wellington Harbour on Monday. The first was about 1pm from a person at the heads who saw the pod coming in.

Orca did come into the harbour occasionally, but why was unknown. They could be following food, or simply curious.
Ad Feedback Click here to find out more!

DOC asks anyone who spots marine mammals to report the sightings to 0800362468 (DOC hotline), or by filling out a form on its website.

Orca, though confusingly known as killer whales, are actually dolphins.

They eat other marine mammals and fish.

- The Dominion Post

http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/4745818/Orca-sighting-unnerves-triathlete

The ballad of Old Tom (via CFZ Australia)

17th September
On today's Sydney Morning Herald website is this engrossing story about a killer whale that forged an unlikely alliance with a group of Australian whale hunters.

http://www.smh.com.au/environment/whale-watch/the-king-of-the-killers-20100916-15er7.html

Eighty years ago this week - on Thursday, September 18, 1930 - The Sydney Morning Herald reported the death of one of the most eccentric celebrities of NSW. The body of ''Old Tom'' was found washed ashore near Eden. The paper described him as ''the king of the far-famed pack of Twofold Bay killers'' and ''the last of his tribe''.

The story, ''King of the Killers'', said, ''For over 100 years he and others of the pack, at one time numbering as many as 30'' rendered an enormous service to the community by intercepting migrating whales and trapping them in the bay.

Since the 1840s, the whalers had abided by what locals call ''the law of the tongue''. When the killer whales had helped them with a kill, the whalers would tie the carcass to a buoy overnight allowing the orcas to take their feed.

Both benefited, Smith explains, because the killer whales only ate the lips and the tongue - the keenest meat on a baleen whale, leaving the whalers to harvest the profitable blubber and whalebone later.

The ballad of Old Tom (via CFZ Australia)

17th September
On today's Sydney Morning Herald website is this engrossing story about a killer whale that forged an unlikely alliance with a group of Australian whale hunters.

http://www.smh.com.au/environment/whale-watch/the-king-of-the-killers-20100916-15er7.html

Eighty years ago this week - on Thursday, September 18, 1930 - The Sydney Morning Herald reported the death of one of the most eccentric celebrities of NSW. The body of ''Old Tom'' was found washed ashore near Eden. The paper described him as ''the king of the far-famed pack of Twofold Bay killers'' and ''the last of his tribe''.

The story, ''King of the Killers'', said, ''For over 100 years he and others of the pack, at one time numbering as many as 30'' rendered an enormous service to the community by intercepting migrating whales and trapping them in the bay.

Since the 1840s, the whalers had abided by what locals call ''the law of the tongue''. When the killer whales had helped them with a kill, the whalers would tie the carcass to a buoy overnight allowing the orcas to take their feed.

Both benefited, Smith explains, because the killer whales only ate the lips and the tongue - the keenest meat on a baleen whale, leaving the whalers to harvest the profitable blubber and whalebone later.

Killer whale evolution leads to two orca species (via Chad Arment)

Matt Walker Editor, Earth News
1 September 2010

Orcas, commonly known as killer whales, are still evolving, and quickly.

Researchers have discovered that two distinct types of orca, a large and a pygmy form, are rapidly diverging, evolving away from each other.

The scientists' study reveals each type of orca carries a unique gene mutation that benefits its particular lifestyle.

The genetic change has occurred in the past 150,000 years, adding to evidence that the orcas are quickly evolving into two distinct species.

Details of the research are published in the journal Biology Letters by an international team of scientists led by orca expert Dr Andrew Foote of the Natural History Museum of Denmark based at the University of Copenhagen.

Energetic lifestyles
The orcas studied live in Antarctic waters, and are known as type B and type C orcas.

Type Bs are one of the largest forms of orca known and primarily feed on seals.

Type Cs, in contrast, are known as a dwarf-form of orca, and feed mainly on fish.

These differences in size and diet, as well as each type having distinct markings, has led Dr Foote and colleagues to previously propose that they could be two separate species.

Genetic evidence now backs that idea.
Dr Foote and his team analysed the mitochondrial genomes of 15 type B and 36 type C orcas, specifically looking at a gene known as cytochrome B, a gene that plays a significant role in the orca's mitochondria, the structures within cells that govern energy production and metabolism.

They found that type B and type C orcas have evolved different amino acids within this gene, that affect its performance.

All type B orcas have replaced one type of amino acid with another at a place on the gene known as site 279, and type Cs had replaced another amino acid at site 193.

"The mutation has spread throughout each type, so that all type B individuals we analysed the DNA for had the mutation and almost all of the type C individuals had the other mutation," says Dr Foote.

He explains how this mutation could be benefiting each type of orca.

"The gene under selection is important in producing energy for the body's cells, and so the mutations are probably linked to the metabolic requirements of these two types.

"Both types live in the Antarctic pack ice and therefore the low temperature of this habitat could be one selective pressure.

But the two mutations should have the opposite effect on metabolism to one another suggesting divergent evolution."

For example, type C is a dwarf killer whale morph reaching lengths of just over 6m, whereas type B is one of the largest killer whale morphs, being up to 50% larger than type C.

"So body size could also be the selective force on the gene linked to metabolism," Dr Foote told the BBC.

Neither mutation can be found in what is thought to be the mitochondrial genome of the orcas' recent ancestor.

That suggests the natural selection has fixed these mutations very quickly, and they appeared since type B and type C orcas diverged from their most recent common ancestor 150,000 years ago.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_8959000/8959574.stm

Killer whale evolution leads to two orca species (via Chad Arment)

Matt Walker Editor, Earth News
1 September 2010

Orcas, commonly known as killer whales, are still evolving, and quickly.

Researchers have discovered that two distinct types of orca, a large and a pygmy form, are rapidly diverging, evolving away from each other.

The scientists' study reveals each type of orca carries a unique gene mutation that benefits its particular lifestyle.

The genetic change has occurred in the past 150,000 years, adding to evidence that the orcas are quickly evolving into two distinct species.

Details of the research are published in the journal Biology Letters by an international team of scientists led by orca expert Dr Andrew Foote of the Natural History Museum of Denmark based at the University of Copenhagen.

Energetic lifestyles
The orcas studied live in Antarctic waters, and are known as type B and type C orcas.

Type Bs are one of the largest forms of orca known and primarily feed on seals.

Type Cs, in contrast, are known as a dwarf-form of orca, and feed mainly on fish.

These differences in size and diet, as well as each type having distinct markings, has led Dr Foote and colleagues to previously propose that they could be two separate species.

Genetic evidence now backs that idea.
Dr Foote and his team analysed the mitochondrial genomes of 15 type B and 36 type C orcas, specifically looking at a gene known as cytochrome B, a gene that plays a significant role in the orca's mitochondria, the structures within cells that govern energy production and metabolism.

They found that type B and type C orcas have evolved different amino acids within this gene, that affect its performance.

All type B orcas have replaced one type of amino acid with another at a place on the gene known as site 279, and type Cs had replaced another amino acid at site 193.

"The mutation has spread throughout each type, so that all type B individuals we analysed the DNA for had the mutation and almost all of the type C individuals had the other mutation," says Dr Foote.

He explains how this mutation could be benefiting each type of orca.

"The gene under selection is important in producing energy for the body's cells, and so the mutations are probably linked to the metabolic requirements of these two types.

"Both types live in the Antarctic pack ice and therefore the low temperature of this habitat could be one selective pressure.

But the two mutations should have the opposite effect on metabolism to one another suggesting divergent evolution."

For example, type C is a dwarf killer whale morph reaching lengths of just over 6m, whereas type B is one of the largest killer whale morphs, being up to 50% larger than type C.

"So body size could also be the selective force on the gene linked to metabolism," Dr Foote told the BBC.

Neither mutation can be found in what is thought to be the mitochondrial genome of the orcas' recent ancestor.

That suggests the natural selection has fixed these mutations very quickly, and they appeared since type B and type C orcas diverged from their most recent common ancestor 150,000 years ago.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_8959000/8959574.stm

Whales and humans linked by 'helpful grandmothers'

Scientists have discovered an evolutionary reason why humans and whales both have grandmothers.

As post-menopausal females age, the researchers say, they become increasingly interested and helpful in rearing their "grandchildren".

This could help explain why female great apes and toothed whales (cetaceans) have lifespans that extend long beyond their reproductive years.

They report the findings in the Royal Society journal Proceedings B.

The "grandmother hypothesis" was first proposed in the 1950s. It stated that menopause, which stops a female's fertility well before the end of her lifespan, may have evolved to benefit a social group, because grandmothers went on to play such an important a role in caring for offspring that were already born.

Dr Michael Cant, from the University of Exeter in the UK, was one of the authors of this paper.

He explained that he and his colleague, Rufus Johnstone, looked at how humans and whales balanced "the costs and benefits of breeding with the costs and benefits of switching off breeding".

Dr Johnstone, who is an evolutionary biologist based at the University of Cambridge, told BBC News: "It's easy to forget about the cetaceans, but since they're the only other mammal apart from us [where females] have a comparable post-reproductive lifespan, it's important to study them in this context."

Previous studies have suggested that female chimpanzees and gorillas also go through menopause, but the conclusions are controversial.

The two scientists developed a mathematical model to study "kinship dynamics" in killer whales (orcas), short-finned pilot whales and humans.

This revealed that, as post-menopausal females aged, they developed closer ties to infants.

This showed, the scientists said, an "underlying similarity" between whales and great apes that might otherwise have been masked by the big differences in their social structures.

"Our analysis can help explain why, of all long-lived social mammals, it is specifically among great apes and toothed whales that menopause and post-reproductive helping have evolved," the researchers wrote in the paper.

Eric Ward, a scientist from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Washington, has carried out research into how post-reproductive females influence whale populations.

He told BBC News: "The model the authors propose is certainly interesting, and may explain the evolution of menopause in orcas."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/science_and_environment/10451533.stm