Distributions of Arctic and Northwest Atlantic killer whales inferred from oxygen isotopes

Abstract Killer whales (Orcinus orca) are distributed widely in all oceans, although they are most common in coastal waters of temperate and high-latitude regions. The species’ distribution has not been fully described in the northwest Atlantic (NWA), where killer whales move into seasonally ice-fre...

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Autores principales:	Cory J. D. Matthews, Fred J. Longstaffe, Jack W. Lawson, Steven H. Ferguson
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2021
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/9e23aae16486422989f58085f724ff0a
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:9e23aae16486422989f58085f724ff0a2021-12-02T14:02:54ZDistributions of Arctic and Northwest Atlantic killer whales inferred from oxygen isotopes10.1038/s41598-021-86272-52045-2322https://doaj.org/article/9e23aae16486422989f58085f724ff0a2021-03-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-86272-5https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract Killer whales (Orcinus orca) are distributed widely in all oceans, although they are most common in coastal waters of temperate and high-latitude regions. The species’ distribution has not been fully described in the northwest Atlantic (NWA), where killer whales move into seasonally ice-free waters of the eastern Canadian Arctic (ECA) and occur year-round off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador farther south. We measured stable oxygen and carbon isotope ratios in dentine phosphate (δ18OP) and structural carbonate (δ18OSC, δ13CSC) of whole teeth and annual growth layers from killer whales that stranded in the ECA (n = 11) and NWA (n = 7). Source δ18O of marine water (δ18Omarine) at location of origin was estimated from dentine δ18OP values, and then compared with predicted isoscape values to assign individual distributions. Dentine δ18OP values were also assessed against those of other known-origin North Atlantic odontocetes for spatial reference. Most ECA and NWA killer whales had mean δ18OP and estimated δ18Omarine values consistent with 18O-depleted, high-latitude waters north of the Gulf Stream, above which a marked decrease in baseline δ18O values occurs. Several individuals, however, had relatively high values that reflected origins in 18O-enriched, low-latitude waters below this boundary. Within-tooth δ18OSC ranges on the order of 1–2‰ indicated interannual variation in distribution. Different distributions inferred from oxygen isotopes suggest there is not a single killer whale population distributed across the northwest Atlantic, and corroborate dietary and morphological differences of purported ecotypes in the region.Cory J. D. MatthewsFred J. LongstaffeJack W. LawsonSteven H. FergusonNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-14 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Cory J. D. Matthews Fred J. Longstaffe Jack W. Lawson Steven H. Ferguson Distributions of Arctic and Northwest Atlantic killer whales inferred from oxygen isotopes
description	Abstract Killer whales (Orcinus orca) are distributed widely in all oceans, although they are most common in coastal waters of temperate and high-latitude regions. The species’ distribution has not been fully described in the northwest Atlantic (NWA), where killer whales move into seasonally ice-free waters of the eastern Canadian Arctic (ECA) and occur year-round off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador farther south. We measured stable oxygen and carbon isotope ratios in dentine phosphate (δ18OP) and structural carbonate (δ18OSC, δ13CSC) of whole teeth and annual growth layers from killer whales that stranded in the ECA (n = 11) and NWA (n = 7). Source δ18O of marine water (δ18Omarine) at location of origin was estimated from dentine δ18OP values, and then compared with predicted isoscape values to assign individual distributions. Dentine δ18OP values were also assessed against those of other known-origin North Atlantic odontocetes for spatial reference. Most ECA and NWA killer whales had mean δ18OP and estimated δ18Omarine values consistent with 18O-depleted, high-latitude waters north of the Gulf Stream, above which a marked decrease in baseline δ18O values occurs. Several individuals, however, had relatively high values that reflected origins in 18O-enriched, low-latitude waters below this boundary. Within-tooth δ18OSC ranges on the order of 1–2‰ indicated interannual variation in distribution. Different distributions inferred from oxygen isotopes suggest there is not a single killer whale population distributed across the northwest Atlantic, and corroborate dietary and morphological differences of purported ecotypes in the region.
format	article
author	Cory J. D. Matthews Fred J. Longstaffe Jack W. Lawson Steven H. Ferguson
author_facet	Cory J. D. Matthews Fred J. Longstaffe Jack W. Lawson Steven H. Ferguson
author_sort	Cory J. D. Matthews
title	Distributions of Arctic and Northwest Atlantic killer whales inferred from oxygen isotopes
title_short	Distributions of Arctic and Northwest Atlantic killer whales inferred from oxygen isotopes
title_full	Distributions of Arctic and Northwest Atlantic killer whales inferred from oxygen isotopes
title_fullStr	Distributions of Arctic and Northwest Atlantic killer whales inferred from oxygen isotopes
title_full_unstemmed	Distributions of Arctic and Northwest Atlantic killer whales inferred from oxygen isotopes
title_sort	distributions of arctic and northwest atlantic killer whales inferred from oxygen isotopes
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/9e23aae16486422989f58085f724ff0a
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Distributions of Arctic and Northwest Atlantic killer whales inferred from oxygen isotopes

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