Hill, Heather M., et al. “Developmental Changes in the Resting Strategies of Killer Whale Mothers and Their

Calves in Managed Care from Birth to 36 Months.” Behaviour, vol. 154, no. 4, Apr. 2017, pp. 435–466. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1163/1568539X-00003430.

Published in the academic journal Behavior, St. Mary University Psychologist Hill et. al.’s study “Developmental Changes in the Resting Strategies of Killer Whale Mothers and Their Calves in Managed Care from Birth to 36 Months.” focuses on killer whale mother-calf pairs and how the care and resting behavior of the pair changes and adapts with the calf’s growth. The researchers of this study employ a combination of video surveillance and coding schemes between two facilities to quantify rates and activity levels of varying types of swimming. The use of this study is to give a glimpse into the nurturing behaviors of killer whales from birth and the early stages of life, building a similar link with the audience from cited extended parenthood behavior. It is to then be followed by another study that contrasts its focus on the end stages using the social impact of death among killer whales. 

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Busson, Marine, et al. “Role of Sociality in the Response of Killer Whales to an Additive Mortality Event.”

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 116, no. 24, June 2019, pp. 11812–11817. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1073/pnas.1817174116.

Université De La Rochelle's Busson, Marine, et al.’s study “Role of Sociality in the Response of Killer Whales to an Additive Mortality Event.” was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States. This study investigates how death among killer whales impacts their social structures and behavior. Photoidentification is used to identify individual members of killer whale pods. Later, observations of the animals’ social association, along with other factors such as their group size and group composition, are quantified through statistical software to observe any trends as the result of a mortality event. This study will follow behind the first article’s subject of birth and motherhood and will contrast with its discussions of how death impedes the remaining group’s long term survivability and relations.

 

Anderson, Robert, et al. “Orca Behavior and Subsequent Aggression Associated with Oceanarium Confinement.”

Animals (2076-2615), vol. 6, no. 8, Aug. 2016, p. 49. EBSCOhost, doi:10.3390/ani6080049.

A professor of animal welfare and ethics at the University of Winchester, Andrew Knight et. al’s study “Orca Behavior and Subsequent Aggression Associated with Oceanarium Confinement.” was published in the academic journal Animals. This study provides insight of observed social behavior in killer whales in captivity by the research members Anderson and Waayer and relates these accounts to the killer whale’s high social intelligence. Ideas such as Theory of Mind and subtopics relating to social empathy are also investigated in their behaviors. In addition to these personal observations, the trends of subsequent aggression are discussed and brought up as evidence to change the approach of future endeavors in killer whale research. With regards to the other two sources, this source could be used in the beginning as the first as an introduction to overall killer whale behavior starting in confinement then end with the previous above source’s information about behavior in the wild. The study could also be placed to inform and help understand what contributes to killer whale aggression. 

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