BBC – Orcas not only have tribes, but may be splitting into distinct species
Lots of reporters have written about the clear dividing lines among orcas, or killer whales. Some eat fish, some eat seals and sea lions. Some residents stick around one restricted spot, others are transients ranging widely across the sea. Spots and fin sizes are different. Sub-species they seem to be, at the least.
BBC‘s Matt Walker is out today with a report, picked up from Danish researchers and the journal Biology Letters, that in Antarctica at least two such orca populations appears so genetically different that they either are, or are moving rapidly toward being, separate species. One group is smaller and eats fish. The other, larger clan eats seals mainly. And each has a distinctly different gene in their mitochondria. This is good, succinct reporting with enough color and technical detail to tell the tale in an engaging way.
As scoops go, BBC forthrightly undermines the case for this story, linking to a strikingly similar report different mainly in not calling two populations separate species. It is by another BBC enviro reporter, Jody Bourton, earlier this year on orcas living in UK waters.
And, looking further, one quickly finds that reports on multiple species of killer whales, while perhaps not reflecting official dictum by whatever agency does such things, are not rare.
Examples of older news on orca of more than one species:
- Nat’l Geographic – John Roach (Aug 4, 2008): “New” Killer Whale Types at Risk From Antarctic Warming ; This one says three species in Antarctic waters.
- Live Science – Charles Q. Choi (April 26, 2010) : New killer whale species proposed ;
And really old news:
- Sydney Evening Post (Sept 29, 1908): KILLERS AND WHALES / A FIERCE BATTLE ; of the genus Orca, of which several species are known, it said here.
Grist for the Mill:
GenomeWeb (Apr 23, 2010) : Mitochondrial DNA Points to Multiple Killer Whale Species.
- Charlie Petit
