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Schoenbeck CM, Solsona-Berga A, Franks PJS, Frasier KE, Trickey JS, Aguilar C, Schroeder ID, Širović A, Bograd SJ, Gopalakrishnan G, Baumann-Pickering S. Ziphius cavirostris presence relative to the vertical and temporal variability of oceanographic conditions in the Southern California Bight. Ecol Evol 2024; 14:e11708. [PMID: 39011135 PMCID: PMC11246833 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.11708] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2024] [Revised: 06/11/2024] [Accepted: 06/21/2024] [Indexed: 07/17/2024] Open
Abstract
The oceanographic conditions of the Southern California Bight (SCB) dictate the distribution and abundance of prey resources and therefore the presence of mobile predators, such as goose-beaked whales (Ziphius cavirostris). Goose-beaked whales are deep-diving odontocetes that spend a majority of their time foraging at depth. Due to their cryptic behavior, little is known about how they respond to seasonal and interannual changes in their environment. This study utilizes passive acoustic data recorded from two sites within the SCB to explore the oceanographic conditions that goose-beaked whales appear to favor. Utilizing optimum multiparameter analysis, modeled temperature and salinity data are used to identify and quantify these source waters: Pacific Subarctic Upper Water (PSUW), Pacific Equatorial Water (PEW), and Eastern North Pacific Central Water (ENPCW). The interannual and seasonal variability in goose-beaked whale presence was related to the variability in El Niño Southern Oscillation events and the fraction and vertical distribution of the three source waters. Goose-beaked whale acoustic presence was highest during the winter and spring and decreased during the late summer and early fall. These seasonal increases occurred at times of increased fractions of PEW in the California Undercurrent and decreased fractions of ENPCW in surface waters. Interannual increases in goose-beaked whale presence occurred during El Niño events. These results establish a baseline understanding of the oceanographic characteristics that correlate with goose-beaked whale presence in the SCB. Furthering our knowledge of this elusive species is key to understanding how anthropogenic activities impact goose-beaked whales.
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Affiliation(s)
- Clara M Schoenbeck
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography University of California San Diego, La Jolla California USA
| | - Alba Solsona-Berga
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography University of California San Diego, La Jolla California USA
| | - Peter J S Franks
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography University of California San Diego, La Jolla California USA
| | - Kaitlin E Frasier
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography University of California San Diego, La Jolla California USA
| | - Jennifer S Trickey
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center Honolulu Hawaii USA
| | - Catalina Aguilar
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography University of California San Diego, La Jolla California USA
| | - Isaac D Schroeder
- Institute of Marine Sciences University of California Santa Cruz California USA
| | - Ana Širović
- Department of Biology Norwegian University of Science and Technology Trondheim Norway
| | - Steven J Bograd
- Department of Biology Norwegian University of Science and Technology Trondheim Norway
- Environmental Research Division, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Monterey California USA
| | - Ganesh Gopalakrishnan
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography University of California San Diego, La Jolla California USA
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2
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Solsona-Berga A, DeAngelis AI, Cholewiak DM, Trickey JS, Mueller-Brennan L, Frasier KE, Van Parijs SM, Baumann-Pickering S. Machine learning with taxonomic family delimitation aids in the classification of ephemeral beaked whale events in passive acoustic monitoring. PLoS One 2024; 19:e0304744. [PMID: 38833504 PMCID: PMC11149863 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0304744] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2023] [Accepted: 05/16/2024] [Indexed: 06/06/2024] Open
Abstract
Passive acoustic monitoring is an essential tool for studying beaked whale populations. This approach can monitor elusive and pelagic species, but the volume of data it generates has overwhelmed researchers' ability to quantify species occurrence for effective conservation and management efforts. Automation of data processing is crucial, and machine learning algorithms can rapidly identify species using their sounds. Beaked whale acoustic events, often infrequent and ephemeral, can be missed when co-occurring with signals of more abundant, and acoustically active species that dominate acoustic recordings. Prior efforts on large-scale classification of beaked whale signals with deep neural networks (DNNs) have approached the class as one of many classes, including other odontocete species and anthropogenic signals. That approach tends to miss ephemeral events in favor of more common and dominant classes. Here, we describe a DNN method for improved classification of beaked whale species using an extensive dataset from the western North Atlantic. We demonstrate that by training a DNN to focus on the taxonomic family of beaked whales, ephemeral events were correctly and efficiently identified to species, even with few echolocation clicks. By retrieving ephemeral events, this method can support improved estimation of beaked whale occurrence in regions of high odontocete acoustic activity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alba Solsona-Berga
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States of America
| | - Annamaria I. DeAngelis
- Northeast Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Danielle M. Cholewiak
- Northeast Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Jennifer S. Trickey
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States of America
| | - Liam Mueller-Brennan
- Northeast Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Kaitlin E. Frasier
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States of America
| | - Sofie M. Van Parijs
- Northeast Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Simone Baumann-Pickering
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States of America
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3
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Baumann‐Pickering S, Trickey JS, Solsona‐Berga A, Rice A, Oleson EM, Hildebrand JA, Frasier KE. Geographic differences in Blainville's beaked whale (
Mesoplodon densirostris
) echolocation clicks. DIVERS DISTRIB 2023. [DOI: 10.1111/ddi.13673] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
| | - Jennifer S. Trickey
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego La Jolla California USA
| | - Alba Solsona‐Berga
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego La Jolla California USA
| | - Ally Rice
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego La Jolla California USA
| | - Erin M. Oleson
- Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Honolulu Hawaii USA
| | - John A. Hildebrand
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego La Jolla California USA
| | - Kaitlin E. Frasier
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego La Jolla California USA
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4
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Ziegenhorn MA, Hildebrand JA, Oleson EM, Baird RW, Wiggins SM, Baumann‐Pickering S. Odontocete spatial patterns and temporal drivers of detection at sites in the Hawaiian islands. Ecol Evol 2023; 13:e9688. [PMID: 36620420 PMCID: PMC9817196 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.9688] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2022] [Revised: 12/06/2022] [Accepted: 12/12/2022] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Successful conservation and management of marine top predators rely on detailed documentation of spatiotemporal behavior. For cetacean species, this information is key to defining stocks, habitat use, and mitigating harmful interactions. Research focused on this goal is employing methodologies such as visual observations, tag data, and passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) data. However, many studies are temporally limited or focus on only one or few species. In this study, we make use of an existing long-term (2009-2019), labeled PAM data set to examine spatiotemporal patterning of at least 10 odontocete (toothed whale) species in the Hawaiian Islands using compositional analyses and modeling techniques. Species composition differs among considered sites, and this difference is robust to seasonal movement patterns. Temporally, hour of day was the most significant predictor of detection across species and sites, followed by season, though patterns differed among species. We describe long-term trends in species detection at one site and note that they are markedly similar for many species. These trends may be related to long-term, underlying oceanographic cycles that will be the focus of future study. We demonstrate the variability of temporal patterns even at relatively close sites, which may imply that wide-ranging models of species presence are missing key fine-scale movement patterns. Documented seasonal differences in detection also highlights the importance of considering season in survey design both regionally and elsewhere. We emphasize the utility of long-term, continuous monitoring in highlighting temporal patterns that may relate to underlying climatic states and help us predict responses to climate change. We conclude that long-term PAM records are a valuable resource for documenting spatiotemporal patterns and can contribute many insights into the lives of top predators, even in highly studied regions such as the Hawaiian Islands.
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Affiliation(s)
- Morgan A. Ziegenhorn
- Scripps Institution of OceanographyUniversity of California San DiegoLa JollaCaliforniaUSA
| | - John A. Hildebrand
- Scripps Institution of OceanographyUniversity of California San DiegoLa JollaCaliforniaUSA
| | - Erin M. Oleson
- NOAA Fisheries Pacific Islands Fisheries Science CenterHonoluluHawaiiUSA
| | | | - Sean M. Wiggins
- Scripps Institution of OceanographyUniversity of California San DiegoLa JollaCaliforniaUSA
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5
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Conant PC, Li P, Liu X, Klinck H, Fleishman E, Gillespie D, Nosal EM, Roch MA. Silbido profundo: An open source package for the use of deep learning to detect odontocete whistles. THE JOURNAL OF THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2022; 152:3800. [PMID: 36586843 DOI: 10.1121/10.0016631] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2022] [Accepted: 12/08/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
This work presents an open-source matlab software package for exploiting recent advances in extracting tonal signals from large acoustic data sets. A whistle extraction algorithm published by Li, Liu, Palmer, Fleishman, Gillespie, Nosal, Shiu, Klinck, Cholewiak, Helble, and Roch [(2020). Proceedings of the International Joint Conference on Neural Networks, July 19-24, Glasgow, Scotland, p. 10] is incorporated into silbido, an established software package for extraction of cetacean tonal calls. The precision and recall of the new system were over 96% and nearly 80%, respectively, when applied to a whistle extraction task on a challenging two-species subset of a conference-benchmark data set. A second data set was examined to assess whether the algorithm generalized to data that were collected across different recording devices and locations. These data included 487 h of weakly labeled, towed array data collected in the Pacific Ocean on two National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) cruises. Labels for these data consisted of regions of toothed whale presence for at least 15 species that were based on visual and acoustic observations and not limited to whistles. Although the lack of per whistle-level annotations prevented measurement of precision and recall, there was strong concurrence of automatic detections and the NOAA annotations, suggesting that the algorithm generalizes well to new data.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter C Conant
- Department of Computer Science, San Diego State University, San Diego, California 92182, USA
| | - Pu Li
- Department of Computer Science, San Diego State University, San Diego, California 92182, USA
| | - Xiaobai Liu
- Department of Computer Science, San Diego State University, San Diego, California 92182, USA
| | - Holger Klinck
- K. Lisa Yang Center for Conservation Bioacoustics, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Cornell University, New York, New York 14850, USA
| | - Erica Fleishman
- College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon 97331, USA
| | - Douglas Gillespie
- Sea Mammal Research Unit, Scottish Oceans Institute, University of St. Andrews, St. Andrews, KY16 9AJ, United Kingdom
| | - Eva-Marie Nosal
- Department of Ocean and Resources Engineering, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822, USA
| | - Marie A Roch
- Department of Computer Science, San Diego State University, San Diego, California 92182, USA
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6
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Leu AA, Hildebrand JA, Rice A, Baumann-Pickering S, Frasier KE. Echolocation click discrimination for three killer whale ecotypes in the Northeastern Pacific. THE JOURNAL OF THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2022; 151:3197. [PMID: 35649922 DOI: 10.1121/10.0010450] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/21/2021] [Accepted: 04/24/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Three killer whale ecotypes are found in the Northeastern Pacific: residents, transients, and offshores. These ecotypes can be discriminated in passive acoustic data based on distinct pulsed call repertoires. Killer whale acoustic encounters for which ecotypes were assigned based on pulsed call matching were used to characterize the ecotype-specific echolocation clicks. Recordings were made using seafloor-mounted sensors at shallow (∼120 m) and deep (∼1400 m) monitoring locations off the coast of Washington state. All ecotypes' echolocation clicks were characterized by energy peaks between 12 and 19 kHz, however, resident clicks featured sub peaks at 13.7 and 18.8 kHz, while offshore clicks had a single peak at 14.3 kHz. Transient clicks were rare and were characterized by lower peak frequencies (12.8 kHz). Modal inter-click intervals (ICIs) were consistent but indistinguishable for resident and offshore killer whale encounters at the shallow site (0.21-0.22 s). Offshore ICIs were longer and more variable at the deep site, and no modal ICI was apparent for the transient ecotype. Resident and offshore killer whale ecotype may be identified and distinguished in large passive acoustic datasets based on properties of their echolocation clicks, however, transient echolocation may be unsuitable in isolation as a cue for monitoring applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amanda A Leu
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, USA
| | - John A Hildebrand
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, USA
| | - Ally Rice
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, USA
| | - Simone Baumann-Pickering
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, USA
| | - Kaitlin E Frasier
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, USA
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7
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Ziegenhorn MA, Frasier KE, Hildebrand JA, Oleson EM, Baird RW, Wiggins SM, Baumann-Pickering S. Discriminating and classifying odontocete echolocation clicks in the Hawaiian Islands using machine learning methods. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0266424. [PMID: 35413068 PMCID: PMC9004765 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0266424] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/03/2021] [Accepted: 03/20/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) has proven a powerful tool for the study of marine mammals, allowing for documentation of biologically relevant factors such as movement patterns or animal behaviors while remaining largely non-invasive and cost effective. From 2008-2019, a set of PAM recordings covering the frequency band of most toothed whale (odontocete) echolocation clicks were collected at sites off the islands of Hawai'i, Kaua'i, and Pearl and Hermes Reef. However, due to the size of this dataset and the complexity of species-level acoustic classification, multi-year, multi-species analyses had not yet been completed. This study shows how a machine learning toolkit can effectively mitigate this problem by detecting and classifying echolocation clicks using a combination of unsupervised clustering methods and human-mediated analyses. Using these methods, it was possible to distill ten unique echolocation click 'types' attributable to regional odontocetes at the genus or species level. In one case, auxiliary sightings and recordings were used to attribute a new click type to the rough-toothed dolphin, Steno bredanensis. Types defined by clustering were then used as input classes in a neural-network based classifier, which was trained, tested, and evaluated on 5-minute binned data segments. Network precision was variable, with lower precision occurring most notably for false killer whales, Pseudorca crassidens, across all sites (35-76%). However, accuracy and recall were high (>96% and >75%, respectively) in all cases except for one type of short-finned pilot whale, Globicephala macrorhynchus, call class at Kaua'i and Pearl and Hermes Reef (recall >66%). These results emphasize the utility of machine learning in analysis of large PAM datasets. The classifier and timeseries developed here will facilitate further analyses of spatiotemporal patterns of included toothed whales. Broader application of these methods may improve the efficiency of global multi-species PAM data processing for echolocation clicks, which is needed as these datasets continue to grow.
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Affiliation(s)
- Morgan A. Ziegenhorn
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States of America
| | - Kaitlin E. Frasier
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States of America
| | - John A. Hildebrand
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States of America
| | - Erin M. Oleson
- NOAA Fisheries Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, United States of America
| | - Robin W. Baird
- Cascadia Research Collective, Olympia, Washington, United States of America
| | - Sean M. Wiggins
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States of America
| | - Simone Baumann-Pickering
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States of America
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8
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Frasier KE. A machine learning pipeline for classification of cetacean echolocation clicks in large underwater acoustic datasets. PLoS Comput Biol 2021; 17:e1009613. [PMID: 34860825 PMCID: PMC8673644 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1009613] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2021] [Revised: 12/15/2021] [Accepted: 11/03/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Machine learning algorithms, including recent advances in deep learning, are promising for tools for detection and classification of broadband high frequency signals in passive acoustic recordings. However, these methods are generally data-hungry and progress has been limited by challenges related to the lack of labeled datasets adequate for training and testing. Large quantities of known and as yet unidentified broadband signal types mingle in marine recordings, with variability introduced by acoustic propagation, source depths and orientations, and interacting signals. Manual classification of these datasets is unmanageable without an in-depth knowledge of the acoustic context of each recording location. A signal classification pipeline is presented which combines unsupervised and supervised learning phases with opportunities for expert oversight to label signals of interest. The method is illustrated with a case study using unsupervised clustering to identify five toothed whale echolocation click types and two anthropogenic signal categories. These categories are used to train a deep network to classify detected signals in either averaged time bins or as individual detections, in two independent datasets. Bin-level classification achieved higher overall precision (>99%) than click-level classification. However, click-level classification had the advantage of providing a label for every signal, and achieved higher overall recall, with overall precision from 92 to 94%. The results suggest that unsupervised learning is a viable solution for efficiently generating the large, representative training sets needed for applications of deep learning in passive acoustics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kaitlin E. Frasier
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States of America
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9
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McCullough JLK, Simonis AE, Sakai T, Oleson EM. Acoustic classification of false killer whales in the Hawaiian islands based on comprehensive vocal repertoire. JASA EXPRESS LETTERS 2021; 1:071201. [PMID: 36154647 DOI: 10.1121/10.0005512] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Use of underwater passive acoustic datasets for species-specific inference requires robust classification systems to identify encounters to species from characteristics of detected sounds. A suite of routines designed to efficiently detect cetacean sounds, extract features, and classify the detection to species is described using ship-based, visually verified detections of false killer whales (Pseudorca crassidens). The best-performing model included features from clicks, whistles, and burst pulses, which correctly classified 99.6% of events. This case study illustrates use of these tools to build classifiers for any group of cetacean species and assess classification confidence when visual confirmation is not available.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer L K McCullough
- Joint Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, Honolulu, Hawai'i 96822, USA
| | - Anne E Simonis
- Ocean Associates for Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, Arlington, Virginia 22207, USA
| | - Taiki Sakai
- Environmental Assessment Services, LLC for Southwest Fisheries Science Center, Richland, Washington 99354, USA
| | - Erin M Oleson
- Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries, Honolulu, Hawai'i 96818, , , ,
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10
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Decadal Assessment of Sperm Whale Site-Specific Abundance Trends in the Northern Gulf of Mexico Using Passive Acoustic Data. JOURNAL OF MARINE SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING 2021. [DOI: 10.3390/jmse9050454] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Passive acoustic monitoring has been successfully used to study deep-diving marine mammal populations. To assess regional population trends of sperm whales in the northern Gulf of Mexico (GoM), including impacts of the Deepwater Horizon platform oil spill in 2010, the Littoral Acoustic Demonstration Center-Gulf Ecological Monitoring and Modeling (LADC-GEMM) consortium collected broadband acoustic data in the Mississippi Valley/Canyon area between 2007 and 2017 using bottom-anchored moorings. These data allow the inference of short-term and long-term variations in site-specific abundances of sperm whales derived from their acoustic activity. A comparison is made between the abundances of sperm whales at specific sites in different years before and after the oil spill by estimating the regional abundance density. The results show that sperm whales were present in the region throughout the entire monitoring period. A habitat preference shift was observed for sperm whales after the 2010 oil spill with higher activities at sites farther away from the spill site. A comparison of the 2007 and 2015 results shows that the overall regional abundance of sperm whales did not recover to pre-spill levels. The results indicate that long-term spatially distributed acoustic monitoring is critical in characterizing sperm whale population changes and in understanding how environmental stressors impact regional abundances and the habitat use of sperm whales.
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11
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Acoustic Presence of Dolphins through Whistles Detection in Mediterranean Shallow Waters. JOURNAL OF MARINE SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING 2021. [DOI: 10.3390/jmse9010078] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
The evaluation of acoustic temporal rhythms in wide-ranging cetaceans can reveal patterns in animal spatial presence and the occurrence of periodical phenomena. Here, we aimed at assessing the temporal patterns of dolphin’s acoustic presence in a shallow-water area in the Sicily Strait (Mediterranean Sea). Whistles were collected continuously for 14 months from an acoustic monitoring station installed aboard of an elastic seamark. Over a total of 6955 h of recording, 14,048 signals were identified using both automatic and visual methods. Three parameters were analyzed: hourly presence (HP), used as a proxy of the presence of dolphins in the area; detection rate (DR), indicating the acoustic activity rate of dolphins measured per hour in the entire dataset; and detection rate in presence of dolphins (DRD), indicating the acoustic activity rate of dolphins considering only the hours when whistles were recorded. The highest values of both HP and DR were reached during the night, and the Autumn and Winter months, suggesting an increase in the dolphin’s occurrence and a possible moving away and towards the monitoring station potentially following prey. DRD, instead, showed an almost uniform distribution throughout the day implying that when the animals are close to the monitoring station, the acoustic activity does not show any pattern. However, possible changes in the communication exchange along the seasons were suggested. This study complements other work on this subject, improving the knowledge of dolphins’ acoustic activity in the area.
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12
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Li K, Sidorovskaia NA, Tiemann CO. Model-based unsupervised clustering for distinguishing Cuvier's and Gervais' beaked whales in acoustic data. ECOL INFORM 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoinf.2020.101094] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
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13
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Kates Varghese H, Miksis-Olds J, DiMarzio N, Lowell K, Linder E, Mayer L, Moretti D. The effect of two 12 kHz multibeam mapping surveys on the foraging behavior of Cuvier's beaked whales off of southern California. THE JOURNAL OF THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2020; 147:3849. [PMID: 32611139 DOI: 10.1121/10.0001385] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2019] [Accepted: 05/17/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
The impact of multibeam echosounder (MBES) operations on marine mammals has been less studied compared to military sonars. To contribute to the growing body of MBES knowledge, echolocation clicks of foraging Cuvier's beaked whales were detected on the Southern California Antisubmarine Warfare Range (SOAR) hydrophones during two MBES surveys and assembled into foraging events called group vocal periods (GVPs). Four GVP characteristics were analyzed Before, During, and After 12 kHz MBES surveys at the SOAR in 2017 and 2019 to assess differences in foraging behavior with respect to the mapping activity. The number of GVP per hour increased During and After MBES surveys compared with Before. There were no other differences between non-MBES and MBES periods for the three other characteristics: the number of clicks per GVP, GVP duration, and click rate. These results indicate that there was not a consistent change in foraging behavior during the MBES surveys that would suggest a clear response. The animals did not leave the range nor stop foraging during MBES activity. These results are in stark contrast to those of analogous studies assessing the effect of Naval mid-frequency active sonar on beaked whale foraging, where beaked whales stopped echolocating and left the area.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hilary Kates Varghese
- Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping, University of New Hampshire, 24 Colovos Road, Durham New Hamshire 03824, USA
| | - Jennifer Miksis-Olds
- Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping, University of New Hampshire, 24 Colovos Road, Durham New Hamshire 03824, USA
| | - Nancy DiMarzio
- Ranges, Engineering and Analysis Department, Naval Undersea Warfare Center, Newport, Rhode Island 02840, USA
| | - Kim Lowell
- Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping, University of New Hampshire, 24 Colovos Road, Durham New Hamshire 03824, USA
| | - Ernst Linder
- Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of New Hampshire, 33 Academic Way Durham, New Hampshire 03824, USA
| | - Larry Mayer
- Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping, University of New Hampshire, 24 Colovos Road, Durham New Hamshire 03824, USA
| | - David Moretti
- Ranges, Engineering and Analysis Department, Naval Undersea Warfare Center, Newport, Rhode Island 02840, USA
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14
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Simonis AE, Brownell RL, Thayre BJ, Trickey JS, Oleson EM, Huntington R, Baumann-Pickering S. Co-occurrence of beaked whale strandings and naval sonar in the Mariana Islands, Western Pacific. Proc Biol Sci 2020; 287:20200070. [PMID: 32070257 PMCID: PMC7062028 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2020.0070] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Mid-frequency active sonar (MFAS), used for antisubmarine warfare (ASW), has been associated with multiple beaked whale (BW) mass stranding events. Multinational naval ASW exercises have used MFAS offshore of the Mariana Archipelago semi-annually since 2006. We report BW and MFAS acoustic activity near the islands of Saipan and Tinian from March 2010 to November 2014. Signals from Cuvier's (Ziphius cavirostris) and Blainville's beaked whales (Mesoplodon densirostris), and a third unidentified BW species, were detected throughout the recording period. Both recorders documented MFAS on 21 August 2011 before two Cuvier's beaked whales stranded on 22–23 August 2011. We compared the history of known naval operations and BW strandings from the Mariana Archipelago to consider potential threats to BW populations. Eight BW stranding events between June 2006 and January 2019 each included one to three animals. Half of these strandings occurred during or within 6 days after naval activities, and this co-occurrence is highly significant. We highlight strandings of individual BWs can be associated with ASW, and emphasize the value of ongoing passive acoustic monitoring, especially for beaked whales that are difficult to visually detect at sea. We strongly recommend more visual monitoring efforts, at sea and along coastlines, for stranded cetaceans before, during and after naval exercises.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anne E Simonis
- Contractor to Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Honolulu, HI, USA
| | - Robert L Brownell
- Southwest Fisheries Science Center, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Monterey, CA, USA
| | - Bruce J Thayre
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UCSD, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | | | - Erin M Oleson
- Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Honolulu, HI, USA
| | - Roderick Huntington
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UCSD, La Jolla, CA, USA.,Mount Edgecumbe High School, Sitka, AK, USA
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Leunissen EM, Webster T, Rayment W. Characteristics of vocalisations recorded from free-ranging Shepherd's beaked whales, Tasmacetus shepherdi. THE JOURNAL OF THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2018; 144:2701. [PMID: 30522329 DOI: 10.1121/1.5067380] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2018] [Accepted: 10/15/2018] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Beaked whales (family Ziphiidae) are among the least studied of all the large mammals. This is especially true of Shepherd's beaked whale (Tasmacetus shepherdi), which until recently had been very rarely sighted alive, with nothing known about the species' acoustic behaviour. Vocalisations of Shepherd's beaked whales were recorded using a hydrophone array on two separate days during marine mammal surveys of the Otago submarine canyons in New Zealand. After carefully screening the recordings, two distinct call types were found; broadband echolocation clicks, and burst pulses. Broadband echolocation clicks (n = 476) had a median inter-click-interval (ICI) of 0.46 s and median peak frequency of 19.2 kHz. The burst pulses (n = 33) had a median peak frequency of constituent clicks (n = 1741) of 14.7 kHz, and median ICI of 11 ms. These results should be interpreted with caution due to the limited bandwidth used to record the signals. To the authors' knowledge, this study presents the first analysis of the characteristics of Shepherd's beaked whale sounds. It will help with identification of the species in passive acoustic monitoring records, and future efforts to further analyse this species' vocalisations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eva M Leunissen
- Marine Science Department, University of Otago, P.O. Box 56, Dunedin 9016, New Zealand
| | - Trudi Webster
- Marine Science Department, University of Otago, P.O. Box 56, Dunedin 9016, New Zealand
| | - William Rayment
- Marine Science Department, University of Otago, P.O. Box 56, Dunedin 9016, New Zealand
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DeAngelis AI, Stanistreet JE, Baumann-Pickering S, Cholewiak DM. A description of echolocation clicks recorded in the presence of True's beaked whale ( Mesoplodon mirus). THE JOURNAL OF THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2018; 144:2691. [PMID: 30522279 DOI: 10.1121/1.5067379] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2018] [Accepted: 10/15/2018] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
True's beaked whales (Mesoplodon mirus) were encountered on two separate shipboard surveys on 24 July 2016 and 16 September 2017 in the western North Atlantic Ocean. Recordings were made using a hydrophone array towed 300 m behind the ship. In 2016, three different groups were sighted within 1500 m of the ship; clicks were recorded for 26 min. In 2017, a single group of five whales was tracked over the course of five hours in which the ship maintained a distance <4000 m from the group. A total of 2938 frequency-modulated (FM) clicks and 7 buzzes were recorded from both encounters. Plausible inter-click-intervals (ICIs) were calculated from 2763 clicks, and frequency and duration measurements were calculated from 2150 good quality FM clicks. The median peak frequencies were 43.1 kHz (2016, n = 718) and 43.5 kHz (2017, n = 1432). Median ICIs were 0.17 s (2016) and 0.19 s (2017). The spectra and measurements of the recorded clicks closely resemble Gervais's beaked whale clicks (Mesoplodon europaeus) and distinguishing between the two species in acoustic data sets proves difficult. The acoustic behavior of True's beaked whales was previously unknown; this study provides a description of echolocation clicks produced by this species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Annamaria Izzi DeAngelis
- Integrated Statistics, under contract to the Northeast Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 166 Water Street, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543, USA
| | - Joy E Stanistreet
- Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Bedford Institute of Oceanography, 1 Challenger Drive, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, B2Y 4A2, Canada
| | - Simone Baumann-Pickering
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, California 92093-0205, USA
| | - Danielle M Cholewiak
- Northeast Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 166 Water Street, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543, USA
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17
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Barlow J, Griffiths ET, Klinck H, Harris DV. Diving behavior of Cuvier's beaked whales inferred from three-dimensional acoustic localization and tracking using a nested array of drifting hydrophone recorders. THE JOURNAL OF THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2018; 144:2030. [PMID: 30404483 DOI: 10.1121/1.5055216] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/10/2018] [Accepted: 08/31/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Echolocation pulses from Cuvier's beaked whales are used to track the whales' three-dimensional diving behavior in the Catalina Basin, California. In 2016, five 2-element vertical hydrophone arrays were suspended from the surface and drifted at ∼100-m depth. Cuvier's beaked whale pulses were identified, and vertical detection angles were estimated from time-differences-of-arrival of either direct-path signals received on two hydrophones or direct-path and surface-reflected signals received on the same hydrophone. A Bayesian state-space model is developed to track the diving behavior. The model is fit to these detection angle estimates from at least four of the drifting vertical arrays. Results show that the beaked whales were producing echolocation pulses and are presumed to be foraging at a mean depth of 967 m (standard deviation = 112 m), approximately 300 m above the bottom in this basin. Some whales spent at least some time at or near the bottom. Average swim speed was 1.2 m s-1, but swim direction varied during a dive. The average net horizontal speed was 0.6 m s-1. Results are similar to those obtained from previous tagging studies of this species. These methods may allow expansion of dive studies to other whale species that are difficult to tag.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jay Barlow
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Marine Fisheries Service, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, Marine Mammal and Turtle Division, 8901 La Jolla Shores Drive, La Jolla, California 92037, USA
| | - Emily T Griffiths
- Ocean Associates, Inc., 4007 North Arlington Street, Arlington, Virginia 22207, USA
| | - Holger Klinck
- Bioacoustics Research Program, Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, Cornell University, 159 Sapsucker Woods Road, Ithaca, New York 14850, USA
| | - Danielle V Harris
- Centre for Research into Ecological and Environmental Modelling, The Observatory, Buchanan Gardens, University of St. Andrews, St. Andrews, Fife, KY16 9LZ, United Kingdom
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18
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Kowarski K, Delarue J, Martin B, O’Brien J, Meade R, Ó. Cadhla O, Berrow S. Signals from the deep: Spatial and temporal acoustic occurrence of beaked whales off western Ireland. PLoS One 2018; 13:e0199431. [PMID: 29928009 PMCID: PMC6013249 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0199431] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2018] [Accepted: 06/07/2018] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Little is known of the spatio-temporal occurrence of beaked whales off western Ireland, limiting the ability of Regulators to implement appropriate management and conservation measures. To address this knowledge gap, static acoustic monitoring was carried out using eight fixed bottom-mounted autonomous acoustic recorders: four from May to December 2015 on Ireland’s northern slope and four from March to November 2016 on the western and southern slopes. Recorders ran for 205 to 230 days, resulting in 4.09 TB of data sampled at 250 kHz which could capture beaked whale acoustic signals. Zero-crossing-based automated detectors identified beaked whale clicks. A sample of detections was manually validated to evaluate and optimize detector performance. Analysis confirmed the occurrence of Sowerby’s and Cuvier’s beaked whales and Northern bottlenose whales. Northern bottlenose whale clicks occurred in late summer and autumn, but were too few to allow further analysis. Cuvier’s and Sowerby’s clicks occurred at all stations throughout the monitoring period. There was a significant effect of month and station (latitude) on the mean daily number of click detections for both species. Cuvier’s clicks were more abundant at lower latitudes while Sowerby’s were greater at higher latitudes, particularly in the spring, suggesting a spatial segregation between species, possibly driven by prey preference. Cuvier’s occurrence increased in late autumn 2015 off northwest Porcupine Bank, a region of higher relative occurrence for each species. Seismic airgun shots, with daily sound exposure levels as high as 175 dB re 1 μPa2·s, did not appear to impact the mean daily number of Cuvier’s or Sowerby’s beaked whale click detections. This work provides insight into the significance of Irish waters for beaked whales and highlights the importance of using acoustics for beaked whale monitoring.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katie Kowarski
- JASCO Applied Sciences, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada
- * E-mail:
| | | | - Bruce Martin
- JASCO Applied Sciences, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada
| | - Joanne O’Brien
- Marine and Freshwater Research Centre, Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology, Galway, Ireland
| | - Rossa Meade
- Marine and Freshwater Research Centre, Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology, Galway, Ireland
| | - Oliver Ó. Cadhla
- National Parks & Wildlife Service, Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Simon Berrow
- Marine and Freshwater Research Centre, Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology, Galway, Ireland
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Giorli G, Goetz KT, Delarue J, Maxner E, Kowarski KA, Bruce Martin S, McPherson C. Unknown beaked whale echolocation signals recorded off eastern New Zealand. THE JOURNAL OF THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2018; 143:EL285. [PMID: 29716304 DOI: 10.1121/1.5032127] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
The echolocation signals of most beaked whale species are still unknown. In fact, out of the 22 species comprising the family Ziphiidae, only the echolocation pulses for 7 species have been clearly described. This study describes two distinct beaked whale echolocation signals recorded in the Cook Strait region using passive acoustic technology. These signals differ from previously described Ziphiid species clicks. A description of the time-frequency characteristics of the two signals is provided. Understanding the characteristics of these signals is necessary to correctly identify species from their echolocation signals and enables future monitoring of beaked whales using passive acoustics techniques.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giacomo Giorli
- National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, 301 Evans Bay Parade, Hataitai, Wellington 6021, New Zealand ,
| | - Kimberly T Goetz
- National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, 301 Evans Bay Parade, Hataitai, Wellington 6021, New Zealand ,
| | - Julien Delarue
- JASCO Applied Sciences Ltd., 202-32 Troop Avenue, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia B3B 1Z1, Canada , , ,
| | - Emily Maxner
- JASCO Applied Sciences Ltd., 202-32 Troop Avenue, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia B3B 1Z1, Canada , , ,
| | - Katie A Kowarski
- JASCO Applied Sciences Ltd., 202-32 Troop Avenue, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia B3B 1Z1, Canada , , ,
| | - Steven Bruce Martin
- JASCO Applied Sciences Ltd., 202-32 Troop Avenue, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia B3B 1Z1, Canada , , ,
| | - Craig McPherson
- JASCO Applied Sciences Pty Ltd., 14 Hook Street, Unit 1, Capalaba Queensland 4157, Australia
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20
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Stanistreet JE, Nowacek DP, Bell JT, Cholewiak DM, Hildebrand JA, Hodge LEW, Van Parijs SM, Read AJ. Spatial and seasonal patterns in acoustic detections of sperm whales Physeter macrocephalus along the continental slope in the western North Atlantic Ocean. ENDANGER SPECIES RES 2018. [DOI: 10.3354/esr00867] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
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21
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Young H, Nigro K, McCauley DJ, Ballance LT, Oleson EM, Baumann-Pickering S. Limited trophic partitioning among sympatric delphinids off a tropical oceanic atoll. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0181526. [PMID: 28767677 PMCID: PMC5540553 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0181526] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2016] [Accepted: 07/03/2017] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Understanding trophic relationships among marine predators in remote environments is challenging, but it is critical to understand community structure and dynamics. In this study, we used stable isotope analysis of skin biopsies to compare the isotopic, and thus, trophic niches of three sympatric delphinids in the waters surrounding Palmyra Atoll, in the Central Tropical Pacific: the melon-headed whale (Peponocephala electra), Gray’s spinner dolphin (Stenella longirostris longirostris), and the common bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus). δ15N values suggested that T. truncatus occupied a significantly higher trophic position than the other two species. δ13C values did not significantly differ between the three delphinds, potentially indicating no spatial partitioning in depth or distance from shore in foraging among species. The dietary niche area—determined by isotopic variance among individuals—of T. truncatus was also over 30% smaller than those of the other species taken at the same place, indicating higher population specialization or lower interindividual variation. For P. electra only, there was some support for intraspecific variation in foraging ecology across years, highlighting the need for temporal information in studying dietary niche. Cumulatively, isotopic evidence revealed surprisingly little evidence for trophic niche partitioning in the delphinid community of Palmyra Atoll compared to other studies. However, resource partitioning may happen via other behavioral mechanisms, or prey abundance or availability may be adequate to allow these three species to coexist without any such partitioning. It is also possible that isotopic signatures are inadequate to detect trophic partitioning in this environment, possibly because isotopes of prey are highly variable or insufficiently resolved to allow for differentiation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hillary Young
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| | - Katherine Nigro
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, United States of America
| | - Douglas J. McCauley
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, United States of America
| | - Lisa T. Ballance
- Southwest Fisheries Science Center, NOAA Fisheries, La Jolla, CA, United States of America
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, United States of America
| | - Erin M. Oleson
- Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, NOAA Fisheries, Honolulu, Hawaii, United States of America
| | - Simone Baumann-Pickering
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, United States of America
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22
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Listening in on the deep sea. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2017; 114:5763-5765. [DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1705226114] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
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23
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Barlow J, Griffiths ET. Precision and bias in estimating detection distances for beaked whale echolocation clicks using a two-element vertical hydrophone array. THE JOURNAL OF THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2017; 141:4388. [PMID: 28618822 DOI: 10.1121/1.4985109] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Detection distances are critical for cetacean density and abundance estimation using distance sampling methods. Data from a drifting buoy system consisting of an autonomous recorder and a two-element vertical hydrophone array at ∼100-m depth are used to evaluate three methods for estimating the horizontal distance (range) to beaked whales making echolocation clicks. The precision in estimating time-differences-of-arrival (TDOA) for direct- and surface-reflected-path clicks is estimated empirically using repeated measures over short time periods. A Teager-Kaiser energy detector is used to improve estimates of TDOA for surface-reflected signals. Simulations show that array tilt in the direction of the source cannot be reliably estimated given this array geometry and these measurements of TDOA error, which means that range cannot be reliably estimated. If array tilt can be reduced to less than 0.5°, range can be reliably estimated up to ∼3000 m. If array depth is increased to 200 m and array tilt is less than 1°, range can be reliably estimated up to ∼5000 m. Prior information on the depth of vocalizing beaked whales and estimates of declination angle can be used to precisely estimate range, but different analytical methods are required to avoid bias and to treat distributions of depth probabilistically.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jay Barlow
- NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service, Marine Mammal and Turtle Division, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, 8901 La Jolla Shores Drive, La Jolla, California 92037, USA
| | - Emily T Griffiths
- Ocean Associates, Inc., 4007 North Abingdon Street, Arlington, Virginia 22207, USA
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24
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Griffiths ET, Barlow J. Cetacean acoustic detections from free-floating vertical hydrophone arrays in the southern California Current. THE JOURNAL OF THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2016; 140:EL399. [PMID: 27908036 DOI: 10.1121/1.4967012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
Drifting acoustic recorders were deployed in the southern California Current during Fall 2014. Two hydrophones configured as a 2-m vertical array at 100 m depth recorded using a 192 kHz sample rate on a 10% duty cycle (2 min/20 min). Beaked whales were detected in 33 of 8618 two-minute recordings. Sperm whales were detected in 185 recordings, and dolphins in 2291 recordings. Many beaked whales detected were over an abyssal plain and not associated with slope or seamount features. Results show the feasibility of using free-floating recording systems to detect a variety of cetacean species over periods of several months.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily T Griffiths
- Marine Mammal and Turtle Division, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, 8901 La Jolla Shores Drive, La Jolla, California 92037, USA ,
| | - Jay Barlow
- Marine Mammal and Turtle Division, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, 8901 La Jolla Shores Drive, La Jolla, California 92037, USA ,
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25
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Keating JL, Barlow J, Rankin S. Shifts in frequency-modulated pulses recorded during an encounter with Blainville's beaked whales (Mesoplodon densirostris). THE JOURNAL OF THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2016; 140:EL166. [PMID: 27586775 DOI: 10.1121/1.4959598] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
Echolocation signals produced by beaked whales (family: Ziphiidae) include frequency-modulated (FM) pulses that appear to have species-specific characteristics. To date there has been no established evidence that a single species of beaked whale might produce more than one type of FM pulse. In 2014 a group of Blainville's beaked whales (Mesoplodon densirostris) were sighted off of Southern California; recordings included FM pulses with significant increases in peak frequency, center frequency, and -10 dB bandwidth relative to FM pulses previously attributed to this species. This research suggests there may be greater variation in received beaked whale FM pulses than previously understood.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer L Keating
- Marine Mammal and Turtle Division, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, 8901 La Jolla Shores Drive, La Jolla, California 92037, USA , ,
| | - Jay Barlow
- Marine Mammal and Turtle Division, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, 8901 La Jolla Shores Drive, La Jolla, California 92037, USA , ,
| | - Shannon Rankin
- Marine Mammal and Turtle Division, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, 8901 La Jolla Shores Drive, La Jolla, California 92037, USA , ,
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26
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Stanistreet JE, Nowacek DP, Read AJ, Baumann-Pickering S, Moors-Murphy HB, Van Parijs SM. Effects of duty-cycled passive acoustic recordings on detecting the presence of beaked whales in the northwest Atlantic. THE JOURNAL OF THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2016; 140:EL31. [PMID: 27475208 DOI: 10.1121/1.4955009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/23/2023]
Abstract
This study investigated the effects of using duty-cycled passive acoustic recordings to monitor the daily presence of beaked whale species at three locations in the northwest Atlantic. Continuous acoustic records were subsampled to simulate duty cycles of 50%, 25%, and 10% and cycle period durations from 10 to 60 min. Short, frequent listening periods were most effective for assessing the daily presence of beaked whales. Furthermore, subsampling at low duty cycles led to consistently greater underestimation of Mesoplodon species than either Cuvier's beaked whales or northern bottlenose whales, leading to a potential bias in estimation of relative species occurrence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joy E Stanistreet
- Duke University Marine Laboratory, 135 Duke Marine Lab Road, Beaufort, North Carolina 28516, USA , ,
| | - Douglas P Nowacek
- Duke University Marine Laboratory, 135 Duke Marine Lab Road, Beaufort, North Carolina 28516, USA , ,
| | - Andrew J Read
- Duke University Marine Laboratory, 135 Duke Marine Lab Road, Beaufort, North Carolina 28516, USA , ,
| | - Simone Baumann-Pickering
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, California 92093, USA
| | - Hilary B Moors-Murphy
- Bedford Institute of Oceanography, 1 Challenger Drive, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia B2Y 4A2,
| | - Sofie M Van Parijs
- Northeast Fisheries Science Center, 166 Water Street, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543, USA
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27
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Roch MA, Batchelor H, Baumann-Pickering S, Berchok CL, Cholewiak D, Fujioka E, Garland EC, Herbert S, Hildebrand JA, Oleson EM, Van Parijs S, Risch D, Širović A, Soldevilla MS. Management of acoustic metadata for bioacoustics. ECOL INFORM 2016. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoinf.2015.12.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
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28
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Passive acoustic monitoring of beaked whale densities in the Gulf of Mexico. Sci Rep 2015; 5:16343. [PMID: 26559743 PMCID: PMC4642294 DOI: 10.1038/srep16343] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2015] [Accepted: 10/06/2015] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Beaked whales are deep diving elusive animals, difficult to census with conventional visual surveys. Methods are presented for the density estimation of beaked whales, using passive acoustic monitoring data collected at sites in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) from the period during and following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill (2010-2013). Beaked whale species detected include: Gervais' (Mesoplodon europaeus), Cuvier's (Ziphius cavirostris), Blainville's (Mesoplodon densirostris) and an unknown species of Mesoplodon sp. (designated as Beaked Whale Gulf - BWG). For Gervais' and Cuvier's beaked whales, we estimated weekly animal density using two methods, one based on the number of echolocation clicks, and another based on the detection of animal groups during 5 min time-bins. Density estimates derived from these two methods were in good general agreement. At two sites in the western GOM, Gervais' beaked whales were present throughout the monitoring period, but Cuvier's beaked whales were present only seasonally, with periods of low density during the summer and higher density in the winter. At an eastern GOM site, both Gervais' and Cuvier's beaked whales had a high density throughout the monitoring period.
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29
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Gassmann M, Wiggins SM, Hildebrand JA. Three-dimensional tracking of Cuvier's beaked whales' echolocation sounds using nested hydrophone arrays. THE JOURNAL OF THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2015; 138:2483-2494. [PMID: 26520330 DOI: 10.1121/1.4927417] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
Cuvier's beaked whales (Ziphius cavirostris) were tracked using two volumetric small-aperture (∼1 m element spacing) hydrophone arrays, embedded into a large-aperture (∼1 km element spacing) seafloor hydrophone array of five nodes. This array design can reduce the minimum number of nodes that are needed to record the arrival of a strongly directional echolocation sound from 5 to 2, while providing enough time-differences of arrivals for a three-dimensional localization without depending on any additional information such as multipath arrivals. To illustrate the capabilities of this technique, six encounters of up to three Cuvier's beaked whales were tracked over a two-month recording period within an area of 20 km(2) in the Southern California Bight. Encounter periods ranged from 11 min to 33 min. Cuvier's beaked whales were found to reduce the time interval between echolocation clicks while alternating between two inter-click-interval regimes during their descent towards the seafloor. Maximum peak-to-peak source levels of 179 and 224 dB re 1 μPa @ 1 m were estimated for buzz sounds and on-axis echolocation clicks (directivity index = 30 dB), respectively. Source energy spectra of the on-axis clicks show significant frequency components between 70 and 90 kHz, in addition to their typically noted FM upsweep at 40-60 kHz.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin Gassmann
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, California 92093-0205, USA
| | - Sean M Wiggins
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, California 92093-0205, USA
| | - John A Hildebrand
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, California 92093-0205, USA
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Forney KA, Becker EA, Foley DG, Barlow J, Oleson EM. Habitat-based models of cetacean density and distribution in the central North Pacific. ENDANGER SPECIES RES 2015. [DOI: 10.3354/esr00632] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
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