Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Selective habituation shapes acoustic predator recognition in harbour seals

Nature volume 420, pages171–173(2002)Cite this article

Abstract

Predation is a major force in shaping the behaviour of animals1,2,3, so that precise identification of predators will confer substantial selective advantages on animals that serve as food to others. Because experience with a predator can be lethal, early researchers studying birds suggested that predator recognition does not require learning4,5. However, a predator image that can be modified by learning and experience will be advantageous in situations where cues associated with the predator are highly variable or change over time. In this study, we investigated the response of harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) to the underwater calls of different populations of killer whales (Orcinus orca). We found that the seals responded strongly to the calls of mammal-eating killer whales and unfamiliar fish-eating killer whales but not to the familiar calls of the local fish-eating population. This demonstrates that wild harbour seals are capable of complex acoustic discrimination and that they modify their predator image by selectively habituating to the calls of harmless killer whales. Fear in these animals is therefore focused on local threats by learning and experience.

Access options

Rent or Buy article

Get time limited or full article access on ReadCube.

from$8.99

Rent or Buy

All prices are NET prices.

Figure 1: Playback sequences for experiment 2.
Figure 2: Response of harbour seals to the calls of different killer whale populations.

References

  1. 1

    Tuttle, M. D. & Ryan, M. J. Bat predation and the evolution of frog vocalizations in the neotropics. Science 214, 677–678 (1981)

    ADS  CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  2. 2

    Gliwicz, M. Z. Predation and the evolution of vertical migration in zooplankton. Nature 320, 746–748 (1986)

    ADS  Article  Google Scholar 

  3. 3

    Rattenborg, N. C., Lima, S. L. & Amlaner, C. J. Half-awake to the risk of predation. Nature 397, 397–398 (1999)

    ADS  CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  4. 4

    Lorenz, K. Vergleichende Verhaltensforschung. Verhand. Deutsch. zool. Gesselschaft 1939, 69–102 (1939)

    Google Scholar 

  5. 5

    Tinbergen, N. Social releasers and the experimental method required for their study. Wilson Bull. 60, 6–51 (1948)

    Google Scholar 

  6. 6

    Ford, J. K. B. et al. Dietary specialization in two sympatric populations of killer whales (Orcinus orca) in coastal British Columbia and adjacent waters. Can. J. Zool. 76, 1456–1471 (1998)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. 7

    Saulitis, E., Matkin, C., Barrett-Lennard, L., Heise, K. & Ellis, G. Foraging strategies of sympatric killer whale (Orcinus orca) populations in Prince William Sound. Mar. Mamm. Sci. 16, 94–109 (2000)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. 8

    Bigg, M. A., Olesiuk, P. F., Ellis, G. M., Ford, J. K. B. & Balcomb, K. C. Social organization and genealogy of resident killer whales (Orcinus orca) in the coastal waters of British Columbia and Washington State. Rep. Int. Whal. Commission (spec. issue) 12, 383–405 (1990)

    Google Scholar 

  9. 9

    Hoelzel, R. A. & Dover, G. A. Genetic differentiation between sympatric killer whale populations. Heredity 66, 191–196 (1991)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. 10

    Hoelzel, A. R., Dahlheim, M. & Stern, S. J. Low genetic variation among killer whales (Orcinus orca) in the eastern North Pacific and genetic differentiation between foraging specialists. J. Hered. 89, 121–128 (1998)

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  11. 11

    Barrett-Lennard, L. G. Population Structure and Mating Patterns of Killer Whale Populations in the Northeastern Pacific, as Revealed by DNA Analysis. PhD thesis, Univ. British Columbia (2000).

  12. 12

    Ford, J. K. B. Acoustic behaviour of resident killer whales (Orcinus orca) off Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Can. J. Zool. 67, 727–745 (1989)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. 13

    Barrett-Lennard, L. G., Ford, J. K. B. & Heise, K. A. The mixed blessing of echolocation: Differences in sonar use by fish-eating and mammal-eating killer whales. Anim. Behav. 51, 553–565 (1996)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. 14

    Ford, J. K. B. Vocal traditions among resident killer whales (Orcinus orca) in coastal waters of British Columbia, Canada. Can. J. Zool. 69, 1454–1483 (1991)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. 15

    Yurk, H., Barrett-Lennard, L., Ford, J. K. B. & Matkin, C. O. Cultural transmission within maternal lineages: Vocal clans in resident killer whales in Southern Alaska. Anim. Behav. 63, 1103–1119 (2002)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. 16

    Deecke, V. B., Ford, J. K. B. & Spong, P. Dialect change in resident killer whales (Orcinus orca): Implications for vocal learning and cultural transmission. Anim. Behav. 60, 619–638 (2000)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. 17

    Møhl, B. Auditory sensitivity of the common seal in air and water. J. Aud. Res. 8, 27–38 (1968)

    Google Scholar 

  18. 18

    Miller, P. J. O. Maintaining Contact: Design and Use of Acoustic Signals in Killer Whales, Orcinus orca. PhD thesis, Joint Program in Oceanography/Applied Ocean Science and Engineering, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2000).

  19. 19

    Nichol, L. M. & Shackleton, D. M. Seasonal movements and foraging behaviour of northern resident killer whales (Orcinus orca) in relation to the inshore distribution of salmon (Oncorhynchus ssp.) in British Columbia. Can. J. Zool. 74, 983–991 (1996)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. 20

    Schleidt, W. M. Über die Auslösung der Flucht vor Raubvögeln bei Truthühnern. Naturwissenschaften 5, 141–142 (1961)

    ADS  Article  Google Scholar 

  21. 21

    Wiley, R. H. in Behavioral Mechanisms in Evolutionary Ecology (ed. Real, L. A.) 157–189 (Univ. Chicago Press, Chicago, IL, 1994)

    Google Scholar 

  22. 22

    Bradbury, J. W. & Vehrencamp, S. L. Principles of Animal Communication (Sinauer, Sunderland, MA, 1998)

    Google Scholar 

  23. 23

    Curio, E. Proximate and developmental aspects of antipredator behavior. Adv. Study Behav. 22, 135–238 (1993)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. 24

    Kroodsma, D. E. Suggested experimental design for song playbacks. Anim. Behav. 37, 600–609 (1989)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. 25

    Zar, J. C. Biostatistical Analysis (Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ, 1996)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank the Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Centre, the BC Killer Whale Adoption Program, the German Academic Exchange Service. We also thank P. Arcese, L. Barrett-Lennard, C. Brignall, J. Borrowman, M. Borrowman, J. deBoeck, N. Dedeluk, G. Ellis, C. Emmons, M. Enstipp, V. Janik, B. Mackay, D. Mackay, A. Morton, R. North, P.-A. Presi, A. Spong, S. Taylor, F. Ugarte, J. Watson, G. Weingartner, R. Williams and H. Yurk.

Author information

Affiliations

  1. School of Biology, University of St Andrews, Scotland, KY16 9TS, UK

    Volker B. Deecke & Peter J. B. Slater

  2. Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Centre, British Columbia, V6B 3X8, Vancouver, Canada

    Volker B. Deecke & John K. B. Ford

  3. Pacific Biological Station, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, British Columbia, V9T 6N7, Nanaimo, Canada

    John K. B. Ford

Authors
  1. Volker B. Deecke
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Peter J. B. Slater
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. John K. B. Ford
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Volker B. Deecke.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing financial interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Deecke, V., Slater, P. & Ford, J. Selective habituation shapes acoustic predator recognition in harbour seals. Nature 420, 171–173 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature01030

Download citation

Further reading

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing