May
19
Hunting Strategy of Pilot Whales vs. Beaked Whales
Oceanus has published an excellent summary of new research into the differnt hunting strategies of Pilot whales vs Beaked whales. The two species have overlapping hunting grounds and share a primary food source, deep ocean squid, yet have very different hunting strategies. Pilot whales use many fast deep dives while Beaked whales take a more liesurely approach. The different strategies raise the possibility that they have evolved in response to each other. The researches gathered the data using D-tags which attach to the whales and record the sounds they use to locate and capture prey. Very cool stuff.