Summer vocalisations of adult male white whales (Delphinapterus leucas) in Svalbard, Norway

The behavioral and environmental context of animal calls provides insights into their functions. Narwhals are a highly vocal species and, like other social cetaceans, rely on acoustic signals to communicate. We characterize and categorize narwhal whistles and pulsed calls, as well as investigate variation in these calls under different contexts (behavior, herd, and year) using recordings made during the month of August 2006–2008, in Koluktoo Bay (72°04′N, 80°32′W). We detected similarities among whistles but not pulsed calls that were produced under a similar behavioral context. Both whistles and pulsed calls recorded within the same herd were more similar than whistles and pulsed calls recorded within different herds. We did not find any type of whistle to be associated with a specific behavior although some acoustical features might be behavior specific. Both whistles and pulsed calls show properties that are consistent with the hypothesis that narwhals produce group‐ or individual‐specific calls.

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 67%

Variability and context specificity of narwhal (Monodon monoceros) whistles and pulsed calls

Marcoux¹,

Auger‐Méthé

Humphries

2011

“…One of these call types, "vowels," or "vowel"-like sounds, is widespread in beluga vocalizations and amount to 10%-18% of the complete sound production in the White Sea and the Okhotsk Sea populations (Bel'kovitch and Sh'ekotov 1993, Belikov and Bel'kovich 2008, Panova et al 2012. We believe that similar call types are produced by belugas from other populations: Cunningham Inlet (group 3 "barks and squawks" in Sjare and Smith 1986), the Churchill River Estuary, Hudson Bay (type P7 "honk" in Chmelnitsky and Furguson 2012), and Svalbard (type CT-F in Karlsen et al 2002). "Vowels" are short (0.07-0.23 s) pulsed tones with a low pulse repetition rate (PRR) of 200-700 pulses per second (Bel'kovitch andSh'ekotov 1993, Belikov andBel'kovich 2008) that sound like "vowels," or a "bark" or "honk" to human ears (Fig.…”

mentioning

confidence: 81%

Intraspecific variability in the “vowel”‐like sounds of beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas): Intra‐ and interpopulation comparisons

Panova

Belikov

Agafonov

et al. 2015

The beluga whale (Delphinapterus leucas) has a rich and complicated vocal repertoire. However, different populations use similar and common types of signals. We studied physical features of one of these types, “vowels,” in three Russian populations: the White Sea population (European North), the Chukotka population (the Bering Sea, Chukotka), and the Okhotsk Sea population (Russian Far East) as well as in four summer aggregations of the White Sea belugas over several years in duration. The pulse repetition rate (PRR) at half of the duration of the signal was measured. We found that the PRR of “vowels” collected in the same summer aggregation during different years is stable in time but varies between locations. The degree of variation corresponds with the geographic distance between different locations. Significant differences were discovered between populations separated by thousands of kilometers, and to a lesser extent, between summer aggregations inhabiting different bays of the White Sea. The variation in PRR between the locations can be caused by the divergence of signals owing to the accumulation of random errors during transmission of these signals from generation to generation, which progressed independently in different summer aggregations and populations.

“…We detected more whistles than either pulsed calls or clicks within our recording bandwidth across all seasons and locations. Whistles were also the most common beluga call category recorded in Cunningham Inlet, Canada (Sjare and Smith 1986a), Svalbard, Norway (Karlsen et al 2002), Bristol Bay, Alaska (Angiel 1997), the White Sea, Russia (Belikov and Bel'kovich 2007), and Churchill River, Manitoba (Chmelnitsky and Ferguson 2012). Pulsed calls made up a larger proportion of beluga calls in the summer compared to the winter (Table 3) suggesting that pulsed calls may be more heavily utilized by belugas during the summer months in Cook Inlet.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This characteristic earned them the nickname "sea canaries," so named by Arctic whalers in the 1800s who heard beluga calls through the hulls of their ships (Sjare 1991). The acoustic repertoire of beluga whales has been studied in Cunningham Inlet in the Canadian High Arctic (Sjare and Smith 1986a), the White Sea in Russia (Bel'kovich and Shekotov 1993;Belikov and Bel'kovich 2005, 2007, Bristol Bay, Alaska (Angiel 1997), the St. Lawrence Estuary (Faucher 1988), Svalbard, Norway (Karlsen et al 2002), the Churchill River, Manitoba (Chmelnitsky and Ferguson 2012), and the eastern Beaufort Sea (Garland et al 2015). Beluga repertoires vary between populations (Karlsen et al 2002), but have not been reported to exhibit interannual variation (Sjare and Smith 1986b).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Clicks are broadband short-duration repetitive signal trains used for echolocation (Vergara et al 2010) with peak frequencies between 40-60 kHz and 100-120 kHz (Au et al 1985(Au et al , 1987Au 1993). Beluga sounds are known to vary based on behavior, school size, and school structure (Karlsen et al 2002), but the specific function of many of their calls remains largely unknown (Sjare 1991).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Spatial and temporal patterns in the calling behavior of beluga whales, Delphinapterus leucas, in Cook Inlet, Alaska

Blevins‐Manhard

Atkinson

Lammers

2016

Cook Inlet beluga whales (CIBs) are an endangered population residing in Cook Inlet, Alaska. We characterized the calling behavior of CIBs to improve our understanding of sounds produced by this population. Bottom‐moored hydrophones were deployed at Eagle Bay in summer 2009 and at Trading Bay in summer and winter 2009. CIB sounds were qualitatively analyzed and categorized as a whistle, pulsed call, or click train. A total of 4,097 calls were analyzed, and 66 unique whistle contours were identified. Whistles were quantitatively analyzed using a custom Matlab program. A chi‐square test showed the call category usage at Eagle Bay during summer 2009 and those at Trading Bay during summer 2009 and winter 2009–2010 differed significantly (P < 0.001). Pulsed calls were more common during summer months, and click trains within the frequency band (12.5 kHz) were more common in Eagle Bay. The variation in calling behavior suggests differences in habitat usage or in the surrounding environment, including background noise. With the proposed development projects in Cook Inlet and the potential increase in ambient noise level due to ocean acidification, it is important to understand how this endangered population uses sound, and what anthropogenic factors may influence that use.