The Lombard effect in singing humpback whales: Source levels increase as ambient ocean noise levels increase

Guazzo, Regina A.; Helble, Tyler A.; Alongi, Gabriela C.; Durbach, Ian; Martin, Cameron R.; Martin, Stephen; Henderson, E. Elizabeth

doi:10.1121/10.0001669

Cited by 30 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…The primary objective of the current paper is to distinguish call cessation from avoidance, and thus investigate whether minke whales exhibit a horizontal movement response away from sonar-producing ships. The methodological development that allows us to do this is the generation of acoustic tracks for individual whales from the localizations (Helble et al, 2015, 2020a,b Klay et al, 2015Henderson et al, 2018;Harris et al, 2019a;Guazzo et al, 2020). In addition, we assessed whether minke whales were more likely to cease calling during sonar exposure, as changes in calling behavior have been reported in response to anthropogenic noise for a number of other baleen whale species [blue whales -Melcon et al, 2012;bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus, Blackwell et al, 2013, 2015; humpback whales- Risch et al, 2012;Cerchio et al, 2014].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Changes in the Movement and Calling Behavior of Minke Whales (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) in Response to Navy Training

et al. 2021

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Many marine mammals rely on sound for foraging, maintaining group cohesion, navigation, finding mates, and avoiding predators. These behaviors are potentially disrupted by anthropogenic noise. Behavioral responses to sonar have been observed in a number of baleen whale species but relatively little is known about the responses of minke whales (Balaenoptera acutorostrata). Previous analyses demonstrated a spatial redistribution of localizations derived from passive acoustic detections in response to sonar activity, but the lack of a mechanism for associating localizations prevented discriminating between movement and cessation of calling as possible explanations for this redistribution. Here we extend previous analyses by including an association mechanism, allowing us to differentiate between movement responses and calling responses, and to provide direct evidence of horizontal avoidance responses by individual minke whales to sonar during U.S. Navy training activities. We fitted hidden Markov models to 627 tracks that were reconstructed from 3 years of minke whale (B. acutorostrata) vocalizations recorded before, during, and after naval training events at the U.S. Navy’s Pacific Missile Range Facility, Kauai, Hawaii. The fitted models were used to identify different movement behaviors and to investigate the effect of sonar activity on these behaviors. Movement was faster and more directed during sonar exposure than in baseline phases. The mean direction of movement differed during sonar exposure, and was consistent with movement away from sonar-producing ships. Animals were also more likely to cease calling during sonar. There was substantial individual variation in response. Our findings add large-sample support to previous demonstrations of horizontal avoidance responses by individual minke whales to sonar in controlled exposure experiments, and demonstrate the complex nature of behavioral responses to sonar activity: some, but not all, whales exhibited behavioral changes, which took the form of horizontal avoidance or ceasing to call.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Changes in the Movement and Calling Behavior of Minke Whales (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) in Response to Navy Training

et al. 2021

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“…However, this only provides partial compensation and the adjusted calls may encode less information. It has been estimated that species including minke whales (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) and humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) could lose ∼80% of their communication distance in the presence of increased human activity [17,18].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modelling collective navigation via nonlocal communication

Johnston

Painter

2021

Preprint

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Collective migration occurs throughout the animal kingdom, and demands both the interpretation of navigational cues and the perception of other individuals within the group. Navigational cues orient individuals toward a destination, while it is hypothesised that communication between individuals enhances navigation through a reduction in orientation error. We develop a mathematical model of collective navigation that synthesises navigational cues and perception of other individuals. Crucially, this approach incorporates the uncertainty inherent to cue interpretation and perception in the decision making process, which can arise due to noisy environments. We demonstrate that collective navigation is more efficient than individual navigation, provided a threshold number of other individuals are perceptible. This benefit is even more pronounced in low navigation information environments. In navigation ``blindspots'', where no information is available, navigation is enhanced through a relay that connects individuals in information-poor regions to individuals in information-rich regions. As an expository case study, we apply our framework to minke whale migration in the North East Atlantic Ocean, and quantify the decrease in navigation ability due to anthropogenic noise pollution.

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“…Humpback whales tend to stop singing when they join another whale that is not singing (Tyack, 1981). Also, the location of the individual (either in deep or shallow waters) or the presence of predators could change the intensity of the vocalization, the frequencies, or the length of songs (Au et al, 2006;Guazzo et al, 2020). In these contexts, the consistency of performance may in turn be an indicator of fitness (Thompson, 1983) where it would be strategic to show high redundancy in call behavior under typical conditions as a strategy to increase detectability by congeners (Erbe et al, 2016).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In these contexts, the consistency of performance may in turn be an indicator of fitness (Thompson, 1983) where it would be strategic to show high redundancy in call behavior under typical conditions as a strategy to increase detectability by congeners (Erbe et al, 2016). Furthermore, it has been found that humpback whales are capable of increasing the source levels of their song units (Guazzo et al, 2020). But even with several singers, the combined effort may not compensate for or supersede the same noise level as that in a very disturbed environment, which still results in a suboptimal communication space (Guazzo et al, 2020).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Furthermore, it has been found that humpback whales are capable of increasing the source levels of their song units (Guazzo et al, 2020). But even with several singers, the combined effort may not compensate for or supersede the same noise level as that in a very disturbed environment, which still results in a suboptimal communication space (Guazzo et al, 2020).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Understanding Effects of Whale-Watching Vessel Noise on Humpback Whale Song in the North Pacific Coast of Colombia With Propagation Models of Masking and Acoustic Data Observations

Rey-Baquero

Huertas-Amaya

Seger³

et al. 2021

Front. Mar. Sci.

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Soundscapes with minimal anthropogenic noise sources are key for the survival and effective communication of marine mammals. The Gulf of Tribugá is part of the breeding ground for humpback whale Stock G. Currently, no large-scale infrastructure exists on the Gulf's coastline, making it an area with high biodiversity and little anthropogenic noise. Whale-watching is one of the few human activities that contributes to the soundscape. By Morro Mico, on the southern limit of the Utría Natural National Park, an Ecological Acoustic Recorder (EAR, Oceanwide Science Institute) was deployed in the Gulf to record samples of acoustic activity from October to November 2018. It recorded for 10-min intervals with 20-min lapses for a duty cycle of 33.3%. One of the common peak frequencies of humpback whale song units from these recordings was used as input to an acoustic propagation model using the parabolic equation to simulate the communication space of a humpback whale when zero, one, and two boats are present. GPS positions of theodolite data from various whale watching scenarios in the Gulf were used to inform the models. Model results indicate that humpback whale song communication space could be reduced by as much as 63% in the presence of even one whale-watching boat. The boats traveling through the Gulf are the same as those used in whale-watching, and their engine noise while passing Morro Mico coincided with song structural and temporal changes observed in the acoustic data. Combining in situ data with acoustic models can advance the understanding of the spatio-temporal acoustic reactions of whales when their vocalizations are masked by boat noise. This project serves as an approximation of how humpback whale Stock G may respond to whale-watching vessel noise in the Gulf of Tribugá.

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The Lombard effect in singing humpback whales: Source levels increase as ambient ocean noise levels increase

Cited by 30 publications

References 39 publications

Changes in the Movement and Calling Behavior of Minke Whales (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) in Response to Navy Training

Changes in the Movement and Calling Behavior of Minke Whales (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) in Response to Navy Training

Modelling collective navigation via nonlocal communication

Understanding Effects of Whale-Watching Vessel Noise on Humpback Whale Song in the North Pacific Coast of Colombia With Propagation Models of Masking and Acoustic Data Observations

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