Orcas' Flukeprints in Monterey Bay May Give Clues About Their Health, Identity

Researchers plan to use orcas' flukeprints left in Monterey Bay to learn more about them. The researchers say the flukeprints could give them clues about the killer whales' identity and health.

Orcas' Flukeprints

This year, the Vancouver, British Columbia-based charity organization Ocean Wise and the California Killer Whale Project are collaborating on conservation projects. The researchers, who call themselves "orca-holics," work together to test a novel method of studying orcas.

Their objective is to gather additional information about the 200 local community members by using eDNA or minuscule DNA fragments discovered in the environment. This approach has never been utilized before to investigate marine mammal skin microbiota.

They will brave the spring breeze on Monterey Bay during the next few months to gather as many biological samples as possible. Their sample analysis in the fall will determine whether this approach can replace or supplement the traditional, far more invasive blubber biopsy method.

The killer whale poses three threats to environmentalists. They have a crucial social role in indigenous communities' customs, traditions, and culture. They are crucial top-down predators in the ecosystem, adding to the carbon cycle and preserving the climate. From an economic standpoint, the whale-watching sector is a whole set of occupations contingent upon a healthy population.

Orcas shed cells everywhere they go, much like people do. These pieces of DNA called eDNA, can provide information about their whereabouts, interpersonal connections, and even health.

An Ocean Wise Research Technician, Gary Sutton, clarified that the collection procedure is straightforward. They will collect skin cells by taking a sample from the flat area of water known as the flukeprint. After the collection, the sample will be placed through a machine, and they will investigate the germs on whale skin to determine the animal's general health.

The Killer Whale Project researchers will send the samples to Vancouver's Ocean Wise Environmental DNA lab. The sample will be run through PCR analysis to search for certain species.

Per Sutton, they can configure the primers in their analysis procedure to search for bacteria on killer whales. Next, they can examine whether microorganisms, including bacteria, are connected to specific whale species.

Scientists typically need to biopsy living whales to determine an individual's health status or relationship to others. This entails taking a small sample of skin from the animal using a crossbow dart. If successful, eDNA analysis would provide substantially the same information in a far less intrusive manner.

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What Is Flukeprints?

Whale fluke prints are an often-seen but poorly understood phenomenon. Whale researchers use flukeprints, which are remarkably smooth oval-shaped patches of water that appear behind swimming or diving whales on the ocean's surface and last for many minutes, to locate whales.

The hydrodynamic theory suggests that the origin and development of these "whale footprints" is the fluke's motion. The movement provides a mechanism for shedding vortex rings, producing a breakwater that dampens capillary waves with short wavelengths. Additionally, the theory implies that natural surfactants had a secondary function in the early development of these prints.