Anna Selbmann

None that we know of - that is part of why these interactions are so puzzling and interesting. We have never observed physical contact between the two species.

@thekkingarsetur.bsky.social
@haskoliislands.bsky.social
@uniofstandrews.bsky.social @seamammalresearch.bsky.social
@cerema.bsky.social

Thanks to my co-authors @fipsamarra.bsky.social, Lucie Barluet de Beauchesne, Tatiana Marchon, @ellenlhayward.bsky.social, Jörundur Svavarsson, Patrick Miller, Paul Wensveen, and Charlotte Curé for all their support in getting this study done!

This study provides information on how a top predator responds to a potential threat (which has useful applications for human impact assessments) and together with previous work shows that interspecific interactions between cetaceans can be acoustically mediated in both directions. 🐳🔈🐋🤓

Pilot whales and killer whales swimming very fast.

Together these results show a clear avoidance response of the killer whales to the sounds of long-finned pilot whales.
📷 Katarína Klementisová, Curt Hanson

And group members moved closer together and moved in a more aligned way.

They often initially increased their calling rate, followed by a clear decrease.

Killer whales responded to pilot whale sounds by switching to a travelling behaviour, increasing speed and moving away from the sound source.

Killer whale with tag.

We conducted playback experiments to tagged killer whales. We played sounds of long-finned pilot whales and a noise control. Killer whale responses were investigated using a state-dependent model, as well as GEEs to test horizontal movement, acoustic, and group-level responses.

📷 Tatiana Marchon

But how does the mobbed species, i.e. the killer whale respond?

Pilot whales are known to exhibit a mobbing-like behaviour towards killer whales. Acoustic signals are important in mobbing behaviours. Previous studies have shown that pilot whales are attracted to the sounds of killer whales and increase their vocalisation in response.

Listen to an example 🔈🎧⬆️

Aversive behavioural responses of killer whales to sounds of long-finned pilot whales - Scientific Reports Scientific Reports - Aversive behavioural responses of killer whales to sounds of long-finned pilot whales

A top predator on the run! New paper on aversive responses of killer whales to the sounds of long-finned pilot whales – out now in Scientific reports – open access: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Below a short summary of the main results.
🔈🐳🤓
#bioacoustics #MarineMammals #whales

Postdoctoral Researcher in Marine Mammal Ecology

🧪🌍 #science

A killer whale PostDoc! 🤯😍

MSc project MSc thesis projects in animal communication Laws of brevity across pipit (Anthus) species Across many human languages, there are several general principles in temporal patterning: most frequent word...

🔊 This the season! Looking or two MSc students to tackle
1. vocal efficiency across pipit species
and, surpsingly,
2. vocal tract anatomy of the great cormorant (bonus: I also have the heads to model hearing!)

Drop me a line! I love people! :)

docs.google.com/document/d/1...

Can you add me? 🙂

Looks like some cool postdoc options here - including one on "Acoustic possibilities for Southern Ocean management dilemmas" 🎧🌊🚢🐳

#bioacoustics #MarineMammals

Thanks Bettina! Who would have thought that there is such a big overlap between marine mammal scientists and Asterix lovers! 🤓🐳

Thanks Andrew! And nice to meet you today!

Thanks to @cherinebaumgartner.bsky.social for putting all of this together! And to Heleen Middel, @jnschulze.bsky.social, Giulia Bellon and @fipsamarra.bsky.social for the great collaboration and fun we had on this!

So, what is going on? Play? Practice hunting? Caregiving? We did not observe either interaction from start to end, so we can only speculate 🤷 But, as scientists, we love a good puzzle, so we’ll keep investigating! 🕵️‍♀️

Interactions Between Killer Whales (Orcinus orca) and Neonate Long‐Finned Pilot Whales (Globicephala melas) off South Iceland This study documents two encounters off south Iceland where neonate pilot whales were observed in the company of killer whale groups, with no other pilot whales in the vicinity. The interactions invo...

The pilot whale calves were seen in echelon position, but also swimming away from the killer whales, and even being lifted out of the water. You can read all about it in our new publication: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Two weeks after the paper came out, we had a puzzling encounter with a group of killer whales that swam with a pilot whale calf 🤯 No other pilot whales were seen. And then, almost exactly a year later we observed another, different group of killer whales again with a pilot whale calf 🤯🤯🤯

Occurrence of long-finned pilot whales (Globicephala melas) and killer whales (Orcinus orca) in Icelandic coastal waters and their interspecific interactions - acta ethologica Long-finned pilot whales and killer whales are widely distributed across the North Atlantic, but few studies have reported their occurrence in Icelandic coastal waters. Here, we use sightings data fro...

In 2022 we published a paper describing interactions between pilot whales and killer whales in Icelandic waters. In all interactions, the pilot whales approached the killer whales and the killer whales avoided the pilot whales, sometimes in high speed chases.
link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Pilot whales and killer whales – it get’s weirder! 🐳🤓
#MarineMammals

Vacancies The University of Iceland is one of the largest employers in Iceland. The university's mission is to conduct academic research and education, a goal that can only be achieved through the continuous en...

Join us at the University of Iceland! They are hiring an assistant professor in marine and freshwater ecology! 🤓

Lots of water available in and around the country, plenty of cool nature and a volcanic eruption every now and then!
🌊🐟🐳🌿🌋

english.hi.is/about-ui/wor...

Killer whale vocalisations adhere to Menzerath's law, meaning that longer sequences are composed of shorter elements, but only in their call sequences, not in elements within calls.
➡️ Call sequences may be more relevant level of analysis for communication. 🤓

Check out this cool meta-analysis on whale vocalisations and whether they might adhere to similar laws as human language. Including some of our data on killer whales! 🐳🎵
#MarineMammals #bioacoustics #animalcommunication

Haha! It looks amazing! 🤩 Glad you like it and congratulations again Dr. Theresa!

The Good Whale This is the story of a wildly ambitious science experiment to return Keiko to the ocean — while the world watched. A new limited podcast series from Serial Productions and the New York Times.

Recently finished 'The good whale'. Beautifully told, well researched and balanced podcast about the crazy story of Keiko returning to the ocean. Featuring our field site in the Westman Islands, South Iceland! 🐳🌊🇮🇸

www.nytimes.com/interactive/...