Modelling short‐term energetic costs of sonar disturbance to cetaceans using high‐resolution foraging data

Czapanskiy, Max F; Savoca, Matthew S.; Gough, William T.; Segre, Paolo S.; Wisniewska, Danuta M.; Cade, David E.; Goldbogen, Jeremy A.

doi:10.1111/1365-2664.13903

Cited by 14 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 133 publications

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“…A key assumption, however, is that responses are comparable and detection rates equal between tag types. This is an important caveat, as the energetic costs associated with sonar disturbance vary with the nature and strength of behavioral responses, and are a function of species' life histories and physiologies (Czapanskiy et al, 2021). For example, the relative energy expenditure of a blue whale exhibiting a "mild" foraging response has been shown to exceed that of an "extreme" flight response in Cuvier's beaked whales (Czapanskiy et al, 2021).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This is an important caveat, as the energetic costs associated with sonar disturbance vary with the nature and strength of behavioral responses, and are a function of species' life histories and physiologies (Czapanskiy et al, 2021). For example, the relative energy expenditure of a blue whale exhibiting a "mild" foraging response has been shown to exceed that of an "extreme" flight response in Cuvier's beaked whales (Czapanskiy et al, 2021). Failure to detect weak responses, or responses of a particular type, on instruments that deliver coarser-resolution data like S-TAGs would lead to bias in estimates of the dose-response functions and thus assessments of biological impacts.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Assessing the Role of Sampling Uncertainty When Predicting Behavioral Responses of Tagged Cetaceans Exposed to Naval Sonar

2021

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Concerns over cetacean mortality events coincident with maritime warfare exercises have motivated efforts to characterize the effects of anthropogenic noise on free-ranging whales and dolphins. By monitoring the movement, diving, and acoustic behaviors of individual whales before, during, and after sound exposure, behavioral response studies (BRSs) have supported significant progress in our understanding of the sensitivity of various cetacean species to high-powered naval sonar signals. However, differences in the designs and sampling capabilities of animal-borne tags typically used in BRS experiments prompt questions about the influence of data resolution in quantitative assessments of noise impacts. We conducted simulations to examine how uncertainty in the acoustic dose either measured on high-resolution multi-sensor biologging tags or modeled from position-transmitting satellite telemetry tags may affect predictions of behavioral responses in Cuvier’s beaked whales (Ziphius cavirostris) exposed to low- and mid-frequency active sonar. We considered an array of scenarios representative of real-world BRSs and used posterior estimates of dose-response functions obtained under an established Bayesian hierarchical modeling framework to explore the consequences of different tag choices for management decision-making. Our results indicate that (1) the zone of impact from a sonar source is under-estimated in most test conditions, (2) substantial reductions in the uncertainty surrounding dose-response relationships are possible at higher sample sizes, and (3) this largely holds true irrespective of tag choice under the scenarios considered, unless positional fixes from satellite tags are consistently poor. Strategic monitoring approaches that combine both archival biologging and satellite biotelemetry are essential for characterizing complex patterns of behavioral change in cetaceans exposed to increasing levels of acoustic disturbance. We suggest ways in which BRS protocols can be optimized to curtail the effects of uncertainty.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the Role of Sampling Uncertainty When Predicting Behavioral Responses of Tagged Cetaceans Exposed to Naval Sonar

2021

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“…However, high-resolution archival tags are designed to provide detailed dive data over a short period of time (≤24 hrs) and therefore yield an incomplete picture of daily feeding activities that preclude assessing seasonal shifts in foraging effort. Consequently, estimates of annual and even daily foraging effort must be extrapolated beyond the available data (e.g., Savoca et al, 2021). This contrasts with what long-term satellite telemetry and time-depth recorder data have revealed for both the eastern (Laidre and Heide-Jorgensen, 2012;Nielsen et al, 2015;Chambault et al, 2018;Fortune et al, 2020c) and western (Citta et al, 2015;Olnes et al, 2020;Citta et al, 2021) bowhead whale populations.…”

Section: Seasonality In Foraging Behaviour and Fastingmentioning

confidence: 95%

Year-round foraging across large spatial scales suggest that bowhead whales have the potential to adapt to climate change

Fortune

Trites²,

LeMay³

et al. 2023

Front. Mar. Sci.

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The ecological impact of environmental changes at high latitudes (e.g., increasing temperature, and decreased sea ice cover) on low-trophic species, such as bowhead whales, are poorly understood. Key to understanding the vulnerability of zooplanktivorous predators to climatic shifts in prey is knowing whether they can make behavioural or distributional adjustments to maintain sufficient prey acquisition rates. However, little is known about how foraging behaviour and associated environmental conditions fluctuate over space and time. We collected long-term movement (average satellite transmission days were 397 (± 204 SD) in 2012 and 484 (± 245 SD) in 2013) and dive behaviour data for 25 bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) equipped with time-depth telemetry tags, and used hierarchical switching-state-space models to quantify their movements and behaviours (resident and transit). We examined trends in inferred two-dimensional foraging behaviours based on dive shape of Eastern Canada-West Greenland bowhead whales in relation to season and sea ice, as well as animal sex and age via size. We found no differences with regards to whale sex and size, but we did find evidence that subsurface foraging occurs year-round, with peak foraging occurring in fall (7.3 hrs d-1 ± 5.70 SD; October) and reduced feeding during spring (2.7 hrs d-1 ± 2.55 SD; May). Although sea ice cover is lowest during summer foraging, whales selected areas with 65% (± 36.1 SD) sea ice cover. During winter, bowheads occurred in areas with 90% (± 15.5 SD) ice cover, providing some open water for breathing. The depth of probable foraging varied across seasons with animals conducting epipelagic foraging dives (< 200 m) during spring and summer, and deeper mesopelagic dives (> 400 m) during fall and winter that approached the sea bottom, following the seasonal vertical migration of lipid-rich zooplankton. Our findings suggest that, compared to related species (e.g., right whales), bowheads forage at relatively low rates and over a large geographic area throughout the year. This suggests that bowhead whales have the potential to adjust their behaviours (e.g., increased time allocated to feeding) and shift their distributions (e.g., occupy higher latitude foraging grounds) to adapt to climate-change induced environmental conditions. However, the extent to which energetic consumption may vary seasonally is yet to be determined.

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“…This was then multiplied by the response duration ( \documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{upgreek} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document} }{}$\zeta $\end{document} ), which here was assumed to be equal to disturbance source duration, to give daily response cost ( \documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{upgreek} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document} }{}$\upsilon$\end{document} ; Table 2 , row 51). Energetic costs of increased locomotion during response are thought to be low compared with those of lost feeding opportunities, unless the change in locomotion is dramatic ( Czapanskiy et al , 2021 ). Isojunno et al (2020b ) found no strong support for a change in activity level during response, so field metabolic rate ( κ ; Table 2 , row 46) was assumed to be unchanged during response.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modelling the impact of condition-dependent responses and lipid-store availability on the consequences of disturbance in a cetacean

Burslem

Isojunno

Pirotta

et al. 2022

Conservation Physiology

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Lipid-store body condition is fundamental to how animals cope with environmental fluctuations, including anthropogenic change. As it provides an energetic buffer, body condition is expected to influence risk-taking strategies, with both positive and negative relationships between body condition and risk-taking posited in the literature. Individuals in good condition may take more risks due to state-dependent safety (‘ability-based’ explanation), or alternatively fewer risks due to asset protection and reduced need to undertake risky foraging (‘needs-based’ explanation). Such state-dependent responses could drive non-linear impacts of anthropogenic activities through feedback between body condition and behavioural disturbance. Here, we present a simple bioenergetic model that explicitly incorporates hypothetical body condition-dependent response strategies for a cetacean, the sperm whale. The model considered the consequences of state-dependent foraging cessation and availability of wax ester (WE) lipids for calf provisioning and female survival. We found strikingly different consequences of disturbance depending on strategy and WE availability scenarios. Compared with the null strategy, where responses to disturbance were independent of body condition, the needs-based strategy mitigated predicted reductions in provisioning by 10%–13%, while the ability-based strategy exaggerated reductions by 63%–113%. Lower WE availability resulted in more extreme outcomes because energy stores were smaller relative to the daily energy balance. In the 0% availability scenario, while the needs-based strategy reduced deaths by 100%, the ability-based strategy increased them by 335% relative to null and by 56% relative to the same strategy under the 5%–6.7% WE availability scenario. These results highlight that state-dependent disturbance responses and energy store availability could substantially impact the population consequences of disturbance. Our ability to set appropriate precautionary disturbance thresholds therefore requires empirical tests of ability- vs needs-based response modification as a function of body condition and a clearer understanding of energy store availability.

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Modelling short‐term energetic costs of sonar disturbance to cetaceans using high‐resolution foraging data

Cited by 14 publications

References 133 publications

Assessing the Role of Sampling Uncertainty When Predicting Behavioral Responses of Tagged Cetaceans Exposed to Naval Sonar

Assessing the Role of Sampling Uncertainty When Predicting Behavioral Responses of Tagged Cetaceans Exposed to Naval Sonar

Year-round foraging across large spatial scales suggest that bowhead whales have the potential to adapt to climate change

Modelling the impact of condition-dependent responses and lipid-store availability on the consequences of disturbance in a cetacean

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