Fourth International Orca Symposium and Workshop - CEBC - CNRS

The following summarizes a variety of research questions and knowledge gaps that
were identified and discussed by the Acoustics Workshop participants. Many of these relate
to the general topics described above, while others do not.
o How important is passive listening in killer whales for acoustic orientation and
discrimination?
o What are the social functions of echolocation click production? Are clicks used to
determine location of other matriline or pod members?
o Do killer whales alter the frequency structure of echolocation clicks according to the
nature of the target being searched for or examined acoustically? Does echolocation click rate
vary with target range?
o What is the origin of acoustic clans? Do the major acoustical differences seen among
clans represent founder effects? Are clans typical of killer whale populations in regions other
than the Northeast Pacific residents?
o To what extent is the identity of vocalizing individuals encoded in discrete call types
shared by kin members?
o Are dialectal differences within clans the result of random drift, or are vocal changes
directed?
o Are call type classifications described in acoustic studies perceived in the same way
by killer whales? Could the ability of killer whales to discriminate call types and variations
be tested in a captive setting?
o Are there anatomical or physiological influences or constraints on sound production in
killer whales? Could structural features in signal structure encode sex, age, or populationspecific
information?
o Why are their such great differences in the sizes of call repertoires among resident
killer whales?
FOURTH INTERNATIONAL ORCA SYMPOSIUM AND WORKSHOPS
SEPTEMBER 23-28 2002, CEBC-CNRS, France
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