Dear colleagues,
Have you ever wondered how cetaceans locate and discriminate prey?
If so, you may be interested in my recent review paper published in Marine Mammal Science about how cetaceans use their senses to find prey depending on distance to target:
A sense of scale: Foraging cetaceans' use of scale-dependent multimodal sensory systems
The paper is open access, so freely downloadable here:
Abstract:
Research on cetacean foraging ecology is central to our understanding of
their spatial and behavioral ecology. Yet, functional mechanisms by which
cetaceans detect prey across different scales remain unclear. Here, I postulate that
cetaceans utilize a scale-dependent, multimodal sensory system to assess and
increase prey encounters. I review the literature on cetacean sensory systems
related to foraging ecology, and hypothesize the effective scales of each
sensory modality to inform foraging opportunities. Next, I build two
“scale-of-senses” schematics for the general groups of dolphins and baleen
whales. These schematics illustrate the hypothetical interchange of sensory modalities used to
locate and discriminate prey at spatial scales ranging from 0 m to 1,000 km:
(1) vision, (2) audition (sound production and sound reception), (3)
chemoreception, (4) magnetoreception, and somatosensory perception of (5) prey
or (6) oceanographic stimuli. The schematics illustrate how a cetacean may integrate
sensory modalities to form an adaptive foraging landscape as a function of
distance to prey. The scale-of-senses schematic is flexible, allowing for
case-specific application and enhancement with improved cetacean sensory data.
The framework serves to improve our understanding of functional cetacean
foraging ecology, and to develop new hypotheses, methods, and results regarding
how cetaceans forage at multiple scales.
Cheers,
Leigh
Leigh Torres, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor; Oregon Sea Grant
Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Marine Mammal Institute
Oregon State University, Hatfield Marine Science Center
2030 SE Marine Science Drive
Newport, OR 97365, U.S.A
541-867-0895