Tiny cameras attached to the backs of four Antarctic albatrosses have revealed a clever feeding strategy: Instead of randomly scanning the open ocean for prey, some birds appear to fly alongside killer whales and scavenge for scraps left by the mammalian predators.
The researchers say it’s difficult to quantify how often black-browed albatrosses associate with killer whales in the open ocean, but they say their findings suggest that shared meals may be quite common.
“When killer whales feed on fish, fragments of prey are often left near the sea surface,” the scientists wrote. “These prey fragments could be an important food resource for albatrosses. Scavenging on such prey fragments may be more energetically advantageous than the pursuit and capture of live prey, as such activities can require frequent take-off, landing and prey handling, which may all be energetically costly.” FULL STORY
Image 1: Black-browed albatrosses fly over Bird Island, British Antarctic Survey. Image 2: Albatrosses interact with a killer whale on the open ocean. Photo taken with the bird-borne camera, National Institute of Polar Research, Japan.
Video: British Antarctic Survey.
