Blue and fin whale call source levels and propagation range in the Southern Ocean

Širović, Ana; Hildebrand, John A.; Wiggins, Sean M.

doi:10.1121/1.2749452

Cited by 217 publications

(177 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…A model developed by Tennessen and Parks (2016) demonstrated that a right whale is not able to hear an upcall from another whale if a ship passes at less than 25 Km, unless the calling whale increases the amplitude of the calls by 20 dB. Despite differences in call source levels between right whales and blue, fin and sei whales, they share similarities in call frequency ranges (e.g., Parks and Tyack, 2005;Sirović et al, 2007;Romagosa et al, 2015). Detection ranges of calls for these three species might be affected by passing ships in similar ways, which is of concern given the dependence of Balaenoperids on long range communication (Payne and Webb, 1971).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Underwater Ambient Noise in a Baleen Whale Migratory Habitat Off the Azores

et al. 2017

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Assessment of underwater noise is of particular interest given the increase in noise-generating human activities and the potential negative effects on marine mammals which depend on sound for many vital processes. The Azores archipelago is an important migratory and feeding habitat for blue (Balaenoptera musculus), fin (Balaenoptera physalus) and sei whales (Balaenoptera borealis) en route to summering grounds in northern Atlantic waters. High levels of low frequency noise in this area could displace whales or interfere with foraging behavior, impacting energy intake during a critical stage of their annual cycle. In this study, bottom-mounted Ecological Acoustic Recorders were deployed at three Azorean seamounts (Condor, Açores, and Gigante) to measure temporal variations in background noise levels and ship noise in the 18-1,000 Hz frequency band, used by baleen whales to emit and receive sounds. Monthly average noise levels ranged from 90.3 dB re 1 µPa (Açores seamount) to 103.1 dB re 1 µPa (Condor seamount) and local ship noise was present up to 13% of the recording time in Condor. At this location, average contribution of local boat noise to background noise levels is almost 10 dB higher than wind contribution, which might temporally affect detection ranges for baleen whale calls and difficult communication at long ranges. Given the low time percentatge with noise levels above 120 dB re 1 µPa found here (3.3% at Condor), we woud expect limited behavioral responses to ships from baleen whales. Sound pressure levels measured in the Azores are lower than those reported for the Mediterranean basin and the Strait of Gibraltar. However, the currently unknown effects of baleen whale vocalization masking and the increasing presence of boats at the monitored sites underline the need for continuous monitoring to understand any long-term impacts on whales.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Underwater Ambient Noise in a Baleen Whale Migratory Habitat Off the Azores

et al. 2017

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“…The goal of such PAM systems, is the continuous mapping of presence and distribution of whales over ocean basins (e.g. Greene et al, 2004;Sirovic et al, 2007;Stafford et al, 2007;Mas et al, 2008) and assessing their densities, (e.g. Ko et al, 1986;McDonald and Fox, 1999;Clark and Ellison, 2000), sometimes in quasi real-time (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The acoustic signal source level, propagation loss, and local background noise levels determine detection ranges (c.f. Sirovic et al, 2007;Stafford et al, 2007;Simard et al, 2008). Moreover, cetacean sounds vary considerably in time-frequency, from infrasonic calls of baleen whales to ultrasonic clicks of toothed whales, and in amplitudes among species and within a species' vocal repertoire (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Listening to the Deep: Live monitoring of ocean noise and cetacean acoustic signals

André

Schaar

Zaugg

et al. 2011

Marine Pollution Bulletin

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a b s t r a c tThe development and broad use of passive acoustic monitoring techniques have the potential to help assessing the large-scale influence of artificial noise on marine organisms and ecosystems. Deep-sea observatories have the potential to play a key role in understanding these recent acoustic changes. LIDO (Listening to the Deep Ocean Environment) is an international project that is allowing the real-time longterm monitoring of marine ambient noise as well as marine mammal sounds at cabled and standalone observatories. Here, we present the overall development of the project and the use of passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) techniques to provide the scientific community with real-time data at large spatial and temporal scales. Special attention is given to the extraction and identification of high frequency cetacean echolocation signals given the relevance of detecting target species, e.g. beaked whales, in mitigation processes, e.g. during military exercises.

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“…Vocalization source level is also essential for determining marine mammal communication ranges, which are key considerations in assessing the impact of anthropogenic sound on marine mammal behavior [31,32]. Previous estimates of vocalization source level for the baleen whale species considered here include fin whales off the Western Antarctic Peninsula and near Juan de Fuca Ridge of the northeast Pacific Ocean [33,34]; sei whales on the continental shelf off New Jersey [35]; minke whales near the Great Barrier Reef, Hawaii, and the Stellwagen Bank area of the Gulf of Maine [28,36,37]; and blue whales distributed in multiple ocean areas, including both the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean [15,33,[38][39][40]. Previous vocalization source level estimates typically focused on a single species based on vocalization sample sizes ranging from a few tens to a few hundred.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Previous vocalization source level estimates typically focused on a single species based on vocalization sample sizes ranging from a few tens to a few hundred. Transmission losses TL were often modeled previously using the azimuthally-symmetric formula TL = X log 10 R with the transmission loss coefficient X varying between the limits of spherical spreading (X = 20) and cylindrical spreading (X = 10) for source-receiver range separation R depending on the environment [15,33,36,37]. In [35], a normal-mode based ocean acoustic propagation model was employed to correct for transmission losses in estimating sei whale vocalization source level in the shallow New Jersey shelf environment.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vocalization Source Level Distributions and Pulse Compression Gains of Diverse Baleen Whale Species in the Gulf of Maine

et al. 2016

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Abstract:The vocalization source level distributions and pulse compression gains are estimated for four distinct baleen whale species in the Gulf of Maine: fin, sei, minke and an unidentified baleen whale species. The vocalizations were received on a large-aperture densely-sampled coherent hydrophone array system useful for monitoring marine mammals over instantaneous wide areas via the passive ocean acoustic waveguide remote sensing technique. For each baleen whale species, between 125 and over 1400 measured vocalizations with significantly high Signal-to-Noise Ratios (SNR > 10 dB) after coherent beamforming and localized with high accuracies (<10% localization errors) over ranges spanning roughly 1 km-30 km are included in the analysis. The whale vocalization received pressure levels are corrected for broadband transmission losses modeled using a calibrated parabolic equation-based acoustic propagation model for a random range-dependent ocean waveguide. The whale vocalization source level distributions are characterized by the following means and standard deviations, in units of dB re 1 µPa at 1 m: 181.9 ± 5.2 for fin whale 20-Hz pulses, 173.5 ± 3.2 for sei whale downsweep chirps, 177.7 ± 5.4 for minke whale pulse trains and 169.6 ± 3.5 for the unidentified baleen whale species downsweep calls. The broadband vocalization equivalent pulse-compression gains are found to be 2.5 ± 1.1 for fin whale 20-Hz pulses, 24 ± 10 for the unidentified baleen whale species downsweep calls and 69 ± 23 for sei whale downsweep chirps. These pulse compression gains are found to be roughly proportional to the inter-pulse intervals of the vocalizations, which are 11 ± 5 s for fin whale 20-Hz pulses, 29 ± 18 for the unidentified baleen whale species downsweep calls and 52 ± 33 for sei whale downsweep chirps. The source level distributions and pulse compression gains are essential for determining signal-to-noise ratios and hence detection regions for baleen whale vocalizations received passively on underwater acoustic sensing systems, as well as for assessing communication ranges in baleen whales.

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Blue and fin whale call source levels and propagation range in the Southern Ocean

Cited by 217 publications

References 33 publications

Underwater Ambient Noise in a Baleen Whale Migratory Habitat Off the Azores

Underwater Ambient Noise in a Baleen Whale Migratory Habitat Off the Azores

Listening to the Deep: Live monitoring of ocean noise and cetacean acoustic signals

Vocalization Source Level Distributions and Pulse Compression Gains of Diverse Baleen Whale Species in the Gulf of Maine

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