An Observers' Guide to the
Killer Whales of Prince William Sound
by Craig Matkin
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements v
Preface vi
North Gulf Coast Oceanic Society viii
Chapter 1: Introduction 1
Chapter 2: Killer Whales in Prince William Sound 3
Distribution in the Sound
Methods of Study
Chapter 3: Types of Killer Whales 16
"Resident" and "Transient" Killer Whales
Resident Pod Structure
Life History and Population Biology of Resident Killer Whales
Chapter 4: Killer Whale Pods in Prince William Sound 32
AB POD
AI POD
AE POD
AJ POD
AK POD
AN10 AND AN20 PODS
AT1 GROUP
Chapter 5: Vocalizations and Echolocation 42
Chapter 6: Killer Whales and Other Marine Mammals 50
Chapter 7: Behaviors 55
Traveling
Resting
Foraging and Feeding
Surface Behavior
Beach Rugging
Close Encounters with the Whales
Chapter 8: Human and Killer Whale Interactions 70
Live-Capture of Killer Whales
Killer Whale Fishery Interactions
Killer Whales and the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill
A Successful Day with the Whales
Future Research
Appendix 1: Index of Alaska species preyed upon by killer whales 95
References 99
Index 101