Clicks of wild Burmeister's porpoises (<i>Phocoena spinipinnis</i>) in Tierra del Fuego, Argentina

Reyes, M. Vanesa Reyes; Marino, Alexander; Dellabianca, Natalia A.; Hevia, Marta; Torres, Marı́a E.; Rey, Andrea Raya; Melcón, Mariana L.

doi:10.1111/mms.12489

Cited by 9 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…Porpoises are characterized by their similar vocalizations: high frequencies centerd around 125-140 kHz narrow-band (10 kHz) clicks (Akamatsu et al, 1994). A recent study has provided the first characterization of Burmeister's porpoise sounds, and confirmed they use NBHF clicks, with a peak frequency of 135 ± 2 kHz (Reyes Reyes et al, 2018), which is similar to the average modal frequency of click trains documented here (133.9 ± 4.4 kHz; range 121-144 kHz). While species verification is an important future step, we are confident that NBHF clicks belonged to Burmeister's porpoise as it is the only NBHF species in Peruvian coastal waters, unlike in other parts of the species range such as southern Chile and Argentina, where it co-occurs with Cephalorhynchus dolphins (which also use NBHF echolocation; Heinrich, 2006;Morisaka and Connor, 2007).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 76%

Distribution and Habitat Use of a Cryptic Small Cetacean, the Burmeister's Porpoise, Monitored From a Small-Scale Fishery Platform

et al. 2018

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There is widespread evidence that small-scale fisheries (SSF) bycatch threatens many populations of small cetaceans, yet conservation efforts are often limited by a lack of basic knowledge regarding their abundance, distribution, and habitat use. Here, we used passive acoustic monitoring from an SSF platform-of-opportunity to better characterize the distribution and habitat use of small cetaceans in northern Peru, focussing on the little-known Burmeister's porpoise Phocoena spinipinnis. From 2009 to 2012, acoustic click detectors (C-PODs) were attached to fishing nets for the duration of 116 fishing sets (30 fishing trips). Dolphins (unspecified delphinids) and porpoises were recorded around 71 and 22% of fishing sets, respectively. The probability of occurrence and buzzing behavior (a proxy for foraging), and time spent, were linked to both static and dynamic environmental variables to examine the drivers of habitat use. Dolphin activity was spread evenly throughout the fishing area and was not linked to any habitat variables. In contrast, porpoises were detected in neritic waters, and habitat models performed well, identifying preferences for shallow (<200 m depth) and cooler (17-18 • C) waters, close (<50 km) to shore. The high bycatch rate of small cetaceans in Peruvian SSF gave us the unique opportunity to investigate the link between bycatch and cetacean activity around vessels. We found a positive relationship between the likelihood of a bycatch event and acoustic presence for both dolphins and porpoises, however as we did not know the timing of entanglement, we could not link vocalization rates to mortality events. Nonetheless, as small cetaceans (particularly dolphins) frequently encounter fishing boats, the likelihood of entanglements may be reduced through effective efforts to alert animals to the presence of the net, either acoustically (using acoustic alarms) or visually. This study demonstrates that passive acoustic monitoring from a fisheries platform can provide insights into the distribution and habitat use of small cetaceans at relatively low cost, and is likely to be suitable in regions with low monitoring effort and high fishing pressure.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 76%

Distribution and Habitat Use of a Cryptic Small Cetacean, the Burmeister's Porpoise, Monitored From a Small-Scale Fishery Platform

et al. 2018

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“…The clicks that were registered by QHB have a good definition and are similar to the NBHF clicks described in the literature ( Rojas-Mena, 2009 ; Götz, Antunes & Heinrich, 2010 ; Kyhn et al, 2010 ; Reyes Reyes et al, 2018 ). The clicks’ average parameters are given in Table 1 .…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 67%

“…As a first analysis of the clicks, we wrote a short code to automatically extract the most commonly used parameters of NBHF clicks ( Au, 1993 ), in concordance with the papers published about the NBHF clicks of the three species of odontocetes present in the Fjord of Puyuhuapi ( Götz, Antunes & Heinrich, 2010 ; Kyhn et al, 2010 ; Reyes Reyes et al, 2018 ). The code is given as supplementary material and it computes the classical parameters listed below.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the Chilean fjords of Patagonia, only these three species of coastal odontocetes emit NBHF echolocation clicks. Interestingly, for each species, only one study describing their vocalization has been published ( Reyes Reyes et al, 2018 ; Kyhn et al, 2010 ; Götz, Antunes & Heinrich, 2010 ). Additionally, one study compared the emitted signals of Chilean and Peale’s dolphins ( Rojas-Mena, 2009 ).…”

Section: Coastal Odontocetes In Patagoniamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recent studies point out that some species of the Cephalorhynchus genus can relax this acoustic crypsis, emitting clicks at lower frequencies probably in a communication context ( Martin et al, 2018 ; Martin et al, 2021 ). In addition, the three species have been shown to produce ‘buzz’, or very rapid trains of clicks thought to be used while foraging ( Götz, Antunes & Heinrich, 2010 ; Martin et al, 2019 ; Rojas-Mena, 2009 ; Reyes Reyes et al, 2018 ). NBHF signals are very similar between species, and are possibly depending on the environment more than on the species ( Kyhn et al, 2010 ), hence the need for more studies on these species vocalizations, that could allow for future long term passive acoustics monitoring by means of accurate detectors.…”

Section: Coastal Odontocetes In Patagoniamentioning

confidence: 99%

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Medium-term acoustic monitoring of small cetaceans in Patagonia, Chile

Patris

Malige

Hamamé

et al. 2023

PeerJ

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Coastal dolphins and porpoises such as the Chilean dolphin (Cephalorhynchus eutropia), the Peale’s dolphin (Lagenorhynchus australis), and the Burmeister’s porpoise (Phocoena spinipinnis) inhabit the remote areas of Chilean Patagonia. Human development is growing fast in these parts and may constitute a serious threat to such poorly known species. It is thus urgent to develop new tools to try and study these cryptic species and find out more about their behavior, population levels, and habits. These odontocetes emit narrow-band high-frequency (NBHF) clicks and efforts have been made to characterize precisely their acoustic production. Passive acoustic monitoring is a common way to study these animals. Nevertheless, as the signal frequency is usually higher than 100 kHz, storage problems are acute and do not allow for long-term monitoring. The solutions for recording NBHF clicks are usually twofold: either short duration, opportunistic recording from a small boat in presence of the animals (short-term monitoring) or long-term monitoring using devices including a click detector and registering events rather than sound. We suggest, as another possibility, medium-term monitoring, arguing that today’s devices have reached a level of performance allowing for a few days of continual recording even at these extremely high frequencies and in difficult conditions, combined with a long-term click detector. As an example, during 2021, we performed a quasi-continuous recording for one week with the Qualilife High-Blue recorder anchored in a fjord near Puerto Cisnes, Region de Aysen, Chile. We detected more than 13,000 clicks, grouped in 22 periods of passing animals. Our detected clicks are quite similar to precedent results but, due to the large number of clicks recorded, we find a larger variability of parameters. Several rapid sequences of clicks (buzz) were found in the recordings and their features are consistent with previous studies: on average they have a larger bandwidth and a lower peak frequency than the usual clicks. We also installed in the same place a click detector (C-POD) and the two devices compare well and show the same number and duration of periods of animals presence. Passages of odontocetes were happening on average each three hours. We thus confirm the high site fidelity for the species of dolphins emitting NBHF clicks present in this zone. Finally, we confirm that the combined use of recording and detection devices is probably a good alternative to study these poorly known species in remote areas.

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