1
|
Kettemer LE, Ramm T, Broms F, Biuw M, Blanchet MA, Bourgeon S, Dubourg P, Ellendersen ACJ, Horaud M, Kershaw J, Miller PJO, Øien N, Pallin LJ, Rikardsen AH. Don't mind if I do: Arctic humpback whales respond to winter foraging opportunities before migration. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2023; 10:230069. [PMID: 37680501 PMCID: PMC10480701 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.230069] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2023] [Accepted: 07/24/2023] [Indexed: 09/09/2023]
Abstract
Migration patterns are fundamentally linked to the spatio-temporal distributions of prey. How migrating animals can respond to changes in their prey's distribution and abundance remains largely unclear. During the last decade, humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) used specific winter foraging sites in fjords of northern Norway, outside of their main summer foraging season, to feed on herring that started overwintering in the area. We used photographic matching to show that whales sighted during summer in the Barents Sea foraged in northern Norway from late October to February, staying up to three months and showing high inter-annual return rates (up to 82%). The number of identified whales in northern Norway totalled 866 individuals by 2019. Genetic sexing and hormone profiling in both areas demonstrate a female bias in northern Norway and suggest higher proportions of pregnancy in northern Norway. This may indicate that the fjord-based winter feeding is important for pregnant females before migration. Our results suggest that humpback whales can respond to foraging opportunities along their migration pathways, in some cases by continuing their feeding season well into winter. This provides an important reminder to implement dynamic ecosystem management that can account for changes in the spatio-temporal distribution of migrating marine mammals.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Lisa Elena Kettemer
- UiT—The Arctic University of Norway, Faculty of Bioscience, Fisheries and Economics, 9037 Tromsø, Norway
| | - Theresia Ramm
- UiT—The Arctic University of Norway, Faculty of Bioscience, Fisheries and Economics, 9037 Tromsø, Norway
| | - Fredrik Broms
- North Norwegian Humpback Whale Catalogue (NNHWC), Straumsvegen 238, 9109 Kvaløya, Norway
| | - Martin Biuw
- IMR Institute of Marine Research, FRAM—High North Research Centre for Climate and the Environment, 9007 Tromsø, Norway
| | - Marie-Anne Blanchet
- UiT—The Arctic University of Norway, Faculty of Bioscience, Fisheries and Economics, 9037 Tromsø, Norway
- Norwegian Polar Institute, FRAM—High North Research Centre for Climate and the Environment, 9007 Tromsø, Norway
| | - Sophie Bourgeon
- UiT—The Arctic University of Norway, Faculty of Bioscience, Fisheries and Economics, 9037 Tromsø, Norway
| | - Paul Dubourg
- UiT—The Arctic University of Norway, Faculty of Bioscience, Fisheries and Economics, 9037 Tromsø, Norway
| | - Anna C. J. Ellendersen
- UiT—The Arctic University of Norway, Faculty of Bioscience, Fisheries and Economics, 9037 Tromsø, Norway
| | - Mathilde Horaud
- UiT—The Arctic University of Norway, Faculty of Bioscience, Fisheries and Economics, 9037 Tromsø, Norway
| | - Joanna Kershaw
- Sea Mammal Research Unit, Scottish Oceans Institute, University of St Andrews, KY16 9ST St Andrews, UK
| | - Patrick J. O. Miller
- Sea Mammal Research Unit, Scottish Oceans Institute, University of St Andrews, KY16 9ST St Andrews, UK
| | - Nils Øien
- IMR Institute of Marine Research, Nordnes, PO Box 1870, 5817 Bergen, Norway
| | - Logan J. Pallin
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, UC Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, USA
| | - Audun H. Rikardsen
- UiT—The Arctic University of Norway, Faculty of Bioscience, Fisheries and Economics, 9037 Tromsø, Norway
- Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, FRAM—High North Research Centre for Climate and the Environment, 9007 Tromsø, Norway
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Lamoni L, Garland EC, Allen JA, Coxon J, Noad MJ, Rendell L. Variability in humpback whale songs reveals how individuals can be distinctive when sharing a complex vocal display. THE JOURNAL OF THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2023; 153:2238. [PMID: 37092914 DOI: 10.1121/10.0017602] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/17/2022] [Accepted: 02/25/2023] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
Individually distinctive acoustic signals in animal vocal communication are taxonomically widespread, however, the investigation of these signal types in marine mammals has focused only on a few species. Humpback whale songs are a stereotyped, hierarchically structured vocal display performed by males, and hence thought to be sexually selected. Within a population, whales conform to a common version of the song despite the song constantly evolving. While humpback songs have been studied extensively at the population level, individual level variation has been rarely described, with inconclusive results. Here, we quantified inter- and intra-individual variability at different levels in the song hierarchy using songs from 25 singers across two song types from the eastern Australian population song of 2002 (12 singers), and the revolutionary song introduced in 2003 (13 singers). Inter-individual variability was found heterogeneously across all hierarchical levels of the song structure. In addition, distinct and individually specific patterns of song production were consistently recorded across song levels, with clear structural differences between the two song types. These results suggest that within the constraints of song conformity, males can produce individually distinctive patterns that could function as an advertisement to females to convey individual qualities.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Luca Lamoni
- Centre for Social Learning and Cognitive Evolution/Sea Mammal Research Unit, School of Biology, University of St. Andrews, St. Andrews KY16 9TH, United Kingdom
| | - Ellen C Garland
- Centre for Social Learning and Cognitive Evolution/Sea Mammal Research Unit, School of Biology, University of St. Andrews, St. Andrews KY16 9TH, United Kingdom
| | - Jenny A Allen
- Cetacean Ecology and Acoustics Laboratories, School of Veterinary Science, The University of Queensland, Gatton, Queensland 4343, Australia
| | - Jennifer Coxon
- Centre for Social Learning and Cognitive Evolution/Sea Mammal Research Unit, School of Biology, University of St. Andrews, St. Andrews KY16 9TH, United Kingdom
| | - Michael J Noad
- Cetacean Ecology and Acoustics Laboratories, School of Veterinary Science, The University of Queensland, Gatton, Queensland 4343, Australia
| | - Luke Rendell
- Centre for Social Learning and Cognitive Evolution/Sea Mammal Research Unit, School of Biology, University of St. Andrews, St. Andrews KY16 9TH, United Kingdom
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Intra-individual variation in the songs of humpback whales suggests they are sonically searching for conspecifics. Learn Behav 2022; 50:456-481. [PMID: 34791610 DOI: 10.3758/s13420-021-00495-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 10/18/2021] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Abstract
Observations of animals' vocal actions can provide important clues about how they communicate and about how they perceive and react to changing situations. Here, analyses of consecutive songs produced by singing humpback whales recorded off the coast of Hawaii revealed that singers constantly vary the acoustic qualities of their songs within prolonged song sessions. Unlike the progressive changes in song structure that singing humpback whales make across months and years, intra-individual acoustic variations within song sessions appear to be largely stochastic. Additionally, four sequentially produced song components (or "themes") were each found to vary in unique ways. The most extensively used theme was highly variable in overall duration within and across song sessions, but varied relatively little in frequency content. In contrast, the remaining themes varied greatly in frequency content, but showed less variation in duration. Analyses of variations in the amount of time singers spent producing the four themes suggest that the mechanisms that determine when singers transition between themes may be comparable to those that control when terrestrial animals move their eyes to fixate on different positions as they examine visual scenes. The dynamic changes that individual whales make to songs within song sessions are counterproductive if songs serve mainly to provide conspecifics with indications of a singer's fitness. Instead, within-session changes to the acoustic features of songs may serve to enhance a singer's capacity to echoically detect, localize, and track conspecifics from long distances.
Collapse
|
4
|
Kowarski K, Cerchio S, Whitehead H, Cholewiak D, Moors-Murphy H. Seasonal song ontogeny in western North Atlantic humpback whales: drawing parallels with songbirds. BIOACOUSTICS 2022. [DOI: 10.1080/09524622.2022.2122561] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Katie Kowarski
- JASCO Applied Sciences, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada
- Department of Biology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
| | | | - Hal Whitehead
- Department of Biology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
| | | | - Hilary Moors-Murphy
- Fisheries and Oceans, Bedford Institute of Oceanography, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Aniceto AS, Ferguson EL, Pedersen G, Tarroux A, Primicerio R. Temporal patterns in the soundscape of a Norwegian gateway to the Arctic. Sci Rep 2022; 12:7655. [PMID: 35538135 PMCID: PMC9090731 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-11183-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2021] [Accepted: 04/19/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
As an Arctic gateway, the Norwegian Sea sustains a rich diversity of seasonal and resident species of soniferous animals, vulnerable to the effects of climate change and anthropogenic activities. We show the occurrence of seasonal patterns of acoustic signals in a small canyon off Northern Norway, and investigate cetacean vocal behavior, human-made noise, and climatic contributions to underwater sound between January and May 2018. Mostly median sound levels ranged between 68.3 and 96.31 dB re 1 μPa2 across 1/3 octave bands (13 Hz-16 kHz), with peaks in February and March. Frequencies under 2 kHz were dominated by sounds from baleen whales with highest rates of occurrence during winter and early spring. During late-spring non-biological sounds were predominant at higher frequencies that were linked mainly to ship traffic. Seismic pulses were also recorded during spring. We observed a significant effect of wind speed and ship sailing time on received sound levels across multiple distance ranges. Our results provide a new assessment of high-latitude continental soundscapes in the East Atlantic Ocean, useful for management strategies in areas where anthropogenic pressure is increasing. Based on the current status of the local soundscape, we propose considerations for acoustic monitoring to be included in future management plans.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- A S Aniceto
- Department of Fisheries and Bioeconomics, Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway.
| | | | - G Pedersen
- Department of Marine Ecosystem Acoustics, Institute of Marine Research, 1870, Bergen, Norway
| | - A Tarroux
- Fram Centre - High North Research Centre for Climate and Environment, Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, 9296, Tromsø, Norway
| | - R Primicerio
- Department of Fisheries and Bioeconomics, Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway
- Fram Centre - High North Research Centre for Climate and Environment, Institute of Marine Research, 9296, Tromsø, Norway
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Humpback whale song recordings suggest common feeding ground occupation by multiple populations. Sci Rep 2021; 11:18806. [PMID: 34552129 PMCID: PMC8458523 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-98295-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2021] [Accepted: 09/06/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Humpback whale males are known to sing on their low-latitude breeding grounds, but it is well established that songs are also commonly produced ‘off-season’ on the feeding grounds or during migration. This opens exciting opportunities to investigate migratory aggregations, study humpback whale behavioral plasticity and potentially even assign individual singers to specific breeding grounds. In this study, we analyzed passive acoustic data from 13 recording positions and multiple years (2011–2018) within the Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean (ASSO). Humpback whale song was detected at nine recording positions in five years. Most songs were recorded in May, austral fall, coinciding with the rapid increase in sea ice concentration at most recording positions. The spatio-temporal pattern in humpback whale singing activity on Southern Ocean feeding grounds is most likely shaped by local prey availability and humpback whale migratory strategies. Furthermore, the comparative analyses of song structures clearly show a differentiation of two song groups, of which one was solely recorded at the western edge of the ASSO and the other song group was recorded throughout the ASSO. This new finding suggests a common feeding ground occupation by multiple humpback whale populations in the ASSO, allowing for cultural and potentially even genetic exchange among populations.
Collapse
|
7
|
Schall E, Roca I, Van Opzeeland I. Acoustic metrics to assess humpback whale song unit structure from the Atlantic sector of the Southern ocean. THE JOURNAL OF THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2021; 149:4649. [PMID: 34241469 DOI: 10.1121/10.0005315] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2021] [Accepted: 05/28/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Acoustic metrics (AMs) aggregate the acoustic information of a complex signal into a unique number, assisting our interpretation of acoustic environments and providing a rapid and intuitive solution to analyze large passive acoustic datasets. Manual identification and characterization of intraspecific call trait variation has been largely used in a variety of sonic taxa. However, it is time consuming, relatively subjective, and measurements can suffer from low replicability. This study assesses the potential of using a combination of standardized and automatically computed AMs to train a supervised classification model, as an alternative to discrimination protocols and manual measurements to categorize humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) song units from the Southern Ocean. Our random forest model successfully discriminated between the 12 humpback whale unit types (UT), achieving an average classification accuracy of 84%. UTs were further described and discussed in the context of the hierarchical structure of humpback whale song in the Southern Ocean. We show that accurate discriminant models based on relevant AM combinations provide an interesting automated solution to use for simple, rapid, and highly reproducible identification and comparison of vocalization types in humpback whale populations, with the potential to be applied to both aquatic and terrestrial contexts, on other vocal species, and over different acoustic scales.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Elena Schall
- Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Klußmannstraße 3d, 27570 Bremerhaven, Germany
| | - Irene Roca
- Helmholtz Institute for Functional Marine Biodiversity, Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg, Ammerländer Heerstraße 231, 26129 Oldenburg, Germany
| | - Ilse Van Opzeeland
- Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Klußmannstraße 3d, 27570 Bremerhaven, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Hawkey JS, Elwen SH, James BS, Prinsloo AS, Gridley T. First look at humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) song structure from western South Africa. AFRICAN ZOOLOGY 2020. [DOI: 10.1080/15627020.2020.1796524] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Simon Harvey Elwen
- Sea Search Research and Conservation NPO, Muizenberg, Cape Town, South Africa
- Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
- Department of Botany and Zoology, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa
| | - Bridget Susan James
- Sea Search Research and Conservation NPO, Muizenberg, Cape Town, South Africa
- Department of Botany and Zoology, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa
| | - Alexa Simone Prinsloo
- Sea Search Research and Conservation NPO, Muizenberg, Cape Town, South Africa
- Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
| | - Tess Gridley
- Sea Search Research and Conservation NPO, Muizenberg, Cape Town, South Africa
- Department of Statistical Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Department of Botany and Zoology, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa
| |
Collapse
|
9
|
Ryan JP, Cline DE, Joseph JE, Margolina T, Santora JA, Kudela RM, Chavez FP, Pennington JT, Wahl C, Michisaki R, Benoit-Bird K, Forney KA, Stimpert AK, DeVogelaere A, Black N, Fischer M. Humpback whale song occurrence reflects ecosystem variability in feeding and migratory habitat of the northeast Pacific. PLoS One 2019; 14:e0222456. [PMID: 31525231 PMCID: PMC6746543 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0222456] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2019] [Accepted: 08/30/2019] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
This study examines the occurrence of humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) song in the northeast Pacific from three years of continuous recordings off central California (36.713°N, 122.186°W). Song is prevalent in this feeding and migratory habitat, spanning nine months of the year (September-May), peaking in winter (November-January), and reaching a maximum of 86% temporal coverage (during November 2017). From the rise of song in fall through the end of peak occurrence in winter, song length increases significantly from month to month. The seasonal peak in song coincides with the seasonal trough in day length and sighting-based evidence of whales leaving Monterey Bay, consistent with seasonal migration. During the seasonal song peak, diel variation shows maximum occurrence at night (69% of the time), decreasing during dawn and dusk (52%), and further decreasing with increasing solar elevation during the day, reaching a minimum near solar noon (30%). Song occurrence increased 44% and 55% between successive years. Sighting data within the acoustic detection range of the hydrophone indicate that variation in local population density was an unlikely cause of this large interannual variation. Hydrographic data and modeling of acoustic transmission indicate that changes in neither habitat occupancy nor acoustic transmission were probable causes. Conversely, the positive interannual trend in song paralleled major ecosystem variations, including similarly large positive trends in wind-driven upwelling, primary productivity, and krill abundance. Further, the lowest song occurrence during the first year coincided with anomalously warm ocean temperatures and an extremely toxic harmful algal bloom that affected whales and other marine mammals in the region. These major ecosystem variations may have influenced the health and behavior of humpback whales during the study period.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- John P. Ryan
- Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Moss Landing, California, United States of America
| | - Danelle E. Cline
- Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Moss Landing, California, United States of America
| | - John E. Joseph
- Department of Oceanography, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California, United States of America
| | - Tetyana Margolina
- Department of Oceanography, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California, United States of America
| | - Jarrod A. Santora
- Department of Applied Mathematics, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, California, United States of America
| | - Raphael M. Kudela
- Ocean Sciences Department, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, California, United States of America
| | - Francisco P. Chavez
- Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Moss Landing, California, United States of America
| | - J. Timothy Pennington
- Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Moss Landing, California, United States of America
| | - Christopher Wahl
- Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Moss Landing, California, United States of America
| | - Reiko Michisaki
- Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Moss Landing, California, United States of America
| | - Kelly Benoit-Bird
- Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Moss Landing, California, United States of America
| | - Karin A. Forney
- Marine Mammal & Turtle Division, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, Moss Landing, California, United States of America
- Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, San Jose State University, Moss Landing, California, United States of America
| | - Alison K. Stimpert
- Bioacoustics/Vertebrate Ecology, San Jose State University, Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, Moss Landing, California, United States of America
| | - Andrew DeVogelaere
- Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, National Ocean Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Monterey, California, United States of America
| | - Nancy Black
- Monterey Bay Whale Watch, Monterey, California, United States of America
| | - Mark Fischer
- Aguasonic Acoustics, Santa Clara, California, United States of America
| |
Collapse
|