How do orcas communicate with each other

ScienceDaily, 7 October Killer whales learn to communicate like dolphins. Retrieved November 14, from www. Baby Birds Tune in from Egg Sep.

Surprisingly international avian experts have shown this to be true, literally, after finding fluctuations in bird species' heartbeat Sounds like it, according to new It's not Baleen whales tune into infrasonic sounds to communicate over long distances. Toothed whales do just the opposite, relying on ultrasonic ScienceDaily shares links with sites in the TrendMD network and earns revenue from third-party advertisers, where indicated.

Print Email Share. Boy or Girl? Living Well. View all the latest top news in the environmental sciences, or browse the topics below:. The finding puts the whales in an elite club among mammals, along with humans, some primates and harbour seals. The sounds produced by other mammals are determined genetically. John Ford, curator of marine mammals at the Vancouver Public Aquarium, has been studying the way killer whales communicate for a decade.

He says that killer whale dialects are made of the whistles and calls the animals use when communicating underwater. Killer whales are the largest member of the dolphin family. There is no evidence that they have ever attacked humans. Killer whales are found throughout the oceans of the world, from the tropics to the north and south poles. However, the largest concentrations are found off the coastal regions of cooler countries, such as Iceland and Canada.

Ford has studied a population of approximately killer whales which live for the whole year off the coast of British Columbia and northern Washington State. These whales form two separate communities that roam through adjacent territories. This is a useful tool for identifying groups in the absence of visual identification e. The differences in vocal call types between clans does not seem to inhibit the various maternal groups and pods within a community from coming together and socializing.

The role of these calls is not precisely known. However, the different calls are certainly a way for the whales to keep track of each other over large distances, in the dark, or when large congregations occur.

Though it has not been demonstrated, there is certainly potential for communication of complex specific information in calls. Sometimes groups are very vocal and at other times the groups may be silent. The calls are not necessarily modified in sound level to accommodate whales travelling close together.

Each group has its own distinct call, which has been used to […].