About the Authors

Rob Williams

rmcw@st-andrews.ac.uk

Current address: Sea Mammal Research Unit, University of St. Andrews, Scotland, United Kingdom

Affiliations University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, United States of America, Marine Mammal Research Unit, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada

Martin Krkošek

Affiliation Department of Zoology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand

Erin Ashe

Current address: Sea Mammal Research Unit, University of St. Andrews, Scotland, United Kingdom

Affiliation Oceans Initiative, Pearse Island, British Columbia, Canada

Trevor A. Branch

Affiliation School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, United States of America

Steve Clark

Affiliation SeaWorld, Orlando, Florida, United States of America

Philip S. Hammond

Affiliation Sea Mammal Research Unit, University of St. Andrews, St. Andrews, Scotland, United Kingdom

Erich Hoyt

Affiliation Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, North Berwick, Scotland, United Kingdom

Dawn P. Noren

Affiliation National Marine Fisheries Service, Northwest Fisheries Science Center, Marine Mammal & Seabird Program, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Seattle, Washington, United States of America

David Rosen

Affiliation Marine Mammal Research Unit, Fisheries Centre, Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Arliss Winship

Affiliation Life Sciences Centre, Department of Biology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

Competing Interests

Steve Clark is an independent contractor to SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment, Inc. (SWPE). He does not have and is not pursuing any patents or products, either in development or marketed, as part of his relationship with SWPE, Inc. Furthermore, there are no relevant competing interests that would affect the objective review of this paper. SWPE provided data, but played no role in reviewing the science. The terms of his contract with SWPE, Inc. do not alter in any way adherence to policies related to sharing of data and material as described in PLoS ONE policies. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: RW MK EA TAB SC PSH EH DPN DR AW. Analyzed the data: MK EA TAB DPN DR RW. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: RW MK EA TAB SC EH DPN DR. Wrote the paper: RW MK EA TAB SC PSH EH DPN DR AW.