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Sperm Whales May Team Up On Deep Sea Squid
By Matt J. Weiss, February 24, 2010 @ 03:06 PM (EST)
A research team from the U.S. has put hi-tech GPS tags on a number of sperm whales of the same group. The tags can record their location as well as the time and depth record of their dives.
From the data they have gotten from the GPS tags, the teams have suggested that the sperm whales may be hunting balls of squid in unison. As the whales made their dives, the deepest of any marine mammal down to around 1,000m, their behavior changed from dive to dive.
The scientists speculated that during these dives, the whales were hunting balls of squid, and the behavior change was due to each playing a different role in the hunting of the squid. They though some were diving deep to prevent the squid from escaping into the unreachable depths, while the others corralled the prey in the middle. The varied behavior could be due to whales switching off which will dive deep, the most physiologically demanding task.
This seems like a lot of speculation to me, but it has been found to be true in dolphins. Perhaps if they take the next step, to track the squid at the same time as the whales, we can find out what is really happening. Cool stuff either way.
From the data they have gotten from the GPS tags, the teams have suggested that the sperm whales may be hunting balls of squid in unison. As the whales made their dives, the deepest of any marine mammal down to around 1,000m, their behavior changed from dive to dive.
The scientists speculated that during these dives, the whales were hunting balls of squid, and the behavior change was due to each playing a different role in the hunting of the squid. They though some were diving deep to prevent the squid from escaping into the unreachable depths, while the others corralled the prey in the middle. The varied behavior could be due to whales switching off which will dive deep, the most physiologically demanding task.
This seems like a lot of speculation to me, but it has been found to be true in dolphins. Perhaps if they take the next step, to track the squid at the same time as the whales, we can find out what is really happening. Cool stuff either way.
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