Killer Whale Research Ireland - KWRI, University College Cork

Very interesting read on cooperative hunting between ancestral indigeous people and killer whales

Ancestry testing of “Old Tom,” a killer whale central to mutualistic interactions with human whalers Abstract. Cooperative hunting between humans and killer whales (Orcinus orca) targeting baleen whales was reported in Eden, New South Wales, Australia, for almo

Some interesting information about the female killer whale that appears to have begun or at least was one of the first of the Gibraltar killer whales known to have started the interactions with the sailboats.

Last month a killer whale was found dead in Sweden and we were contacted by Eve Jourdain from Norwegian Orca Survey to check for matches with our killer whale catalogue. Unexpectedly a match was found almost straight away at the beginning of our catalogue. It's a fantastic find, showcasing the importance of collaboration across countries to help build on the knowledge of different killer whale groups within the North Atlantic. Huge thanks to all involved. Read on for more information.

❗️The orca found dead in Sweden in May 2023 was identified ❗️

Photo-identification, citizen science and collaborative science across the North Atlantic proved, once again, to be invaluable in resolving the complex puzzle of North Atlantic killer whales 🙏

We had shared ID photos of the male killer whale necropsied in May 2023 in Sweden with our colleagues in Scotland, Ireland and Iceland so they could check if the whale had ever been photographed in their respective regions 📸🌊🐳 It was Róisín Pinfield, PhD candidate at the School of Biological, Earth and Environmental, University College Cork, Ireland who found the match! 👩‍🎓 (Killer Whale Research Ireland - KWRI, University College Cork; Biological, Earth & Environmental Sciences, UCC). Róisín is the curator of an ID catalogue of the killer whales that interact with the winter Northeast Atlantic mackerel fishery 🐟🛥

Róisín first photographed this male in October 2016 in the North Sea from an Irish mackerel trawler when he was seen amongst a large group of >50 killer whales 📸 Just over one year later in November 2017, this male was photographed by fisherman and photographer, John Roberts (Irish Fishing Photos) in the same area amongst a smaller group of 20 - 30 killer whales. While it is sad that this male is now deceased, he may just have given us some insight into his home range.

We would like to thank Peter Grahn and John Roberts for contributing their ID photos 📸, and the incredible team of expert veterinarians at the Swedish National Veterinary Institute who performed the necropsy of this whale in May 2023 🩺

We also thank our colleagues for continued fantastic collaborative efforts across the Northeastern Atlantic region:
Orcas
Killer Whale Photo ID catalogue

🙏🖤🤍

Norwegian and Icelandic Orca matches, first ever! Fantastic collaborative work. Congrats to all involved 👏 🙌 👍

BREAKING NEWS: FIRST EVER MATCHES ICELAND – NORWAY 🎉🎉🎉

Absolutely incredible!!
We were contacted a few days ago by Emma Luck, a marine scientist based in Alaska and volunteer with the community science organization Happywhale. She matched two of our Icelandic individuals from our 2022 killer whale ID catalogue to images from June 11th, 2022, taken by Andrew Peacock and Javier Cotin onboard Lindblad Expeditions / National Geographic Expeditions off the coast of central Norway near Rørvik.

The individuals in question – SN1309 and SN1310 – were spotted with us in West Iceland, along the Snæfellsnes Peninsula, last on the 25th and 27th of April, 2022. They have done the journey to Norway in 45 days or less.

These are the first-ever killer whales known to travel from Iceland to Norway, apart from Keiko, the orca from “Free Willy”, who was released in Icelandic waters and recorded to have swum all the way to Norway.

We will now go through images from the encounters in more detail to see if there are more matches. We have been hoping for a match between Iceland and Norway for the last eight years, so today is a very special day for us. 💛

There are currently 29 individuals matched between West Iceland and Scotland, and four individuals have been matched between Iceland and Italy, with one individual having swum farther to Lebanon and Israel (Riptide’s journey). All of these discoveries in the past and the recent ones could not have been done without dedicated individuals in the other countries.

And, once again, it is citizen science that makes all the difference.

We are ever so grateful for this great network of researchers, whale watching guides, and whale enthusiasts – thank you SO much for everyone involved that made it happen. Thank you especially to Emma Luck and Ted Cheeseman from Happywhale for an incredible collaboration, and to Andrew Peacock and Javier Cotin for taking these important images. Thank you to Láki Tours whale watching and the West Iceland Nature Research Centre (Náttúrustofa Vesturlands) for the ongoing support and collaboration.

You can find our catalogue and more information about our work at: www.orcaguardians.org

Pilot whale newborn found amongst killer whales in Iceland, no other pilot whales about.. mind blowing stuff 🤯 so many questions?!!

BREAKING: ORCAS AND A BABY PILOT WHALE 😱😱😱😱

Our team went out yesterday and found a group of playful and studied them for a few hours. It was a group we know well but to our absolute astonishment amongst the orcas was what appeared to be a newborn pilot whale. There were no observations of pilot whales in the area the whole day. Where did this baby come from? 😱 We have so many questions! This adds a whole other layer of complexity to the study of interactions between pilot whales and killer whales. Absolutely incredible! 😍

📷 by Josephine Schulze