Acoustic behavior of gray whales tagged with biologging devices on foraging grounds
Understanding the function of baleen whale acoustic signals requires the investigation of calling behaviors relative to location, timing, and behavioral state. Previous studies of gray whale ( Eschrichtius robustus ) vocal behavior have principally used passive recorders and been conducted primarily...
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2023
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2023.1111666 https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2023.1111666/full |
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crfrontiers:10.3389/fmars.2023.1111666 2024-02-11T10:02:22+01:00 Acoustic behavior of gray whales tagged with biologging devices on foraging grounds Clayton, Hannah Cade, David E. Burnham, Rianna Calambokidis, John Goldbogen, Jeremy 2023 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2023.1111666 https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2023.1111666/full unknown Frontiers Media SA https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Frontiers in Marine Science volume 10 ISSN 2296-7745 Ocean Engineering Water Science and Technology Aquatic Science Global and Planetary Change Oceanography journal-article 2023 crfrontiers https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2023.1111666 2024-01-26T10:05:21Z Understanding the function of baleen whale acoustic signals requires the investigation of calling behaviors relative to location, timing, and behavioral state. Previous studies of gray whale ( Eschrichtius robustus ) vocal behavior have principally used passive recorders and been conducted primarily on breeding grounds and along migratory routes, and not areas associated with foraging. We conducted an analysis of accelerometer and acoustic data collected during 12 deployments of animal-borne tags in 2016, 2019, and 2021 on gray whales that return annually to northern Puget Sound, Washington. We identified 141 calls from gray whales in approximately 128 hours of accelerometer and/or acoustic data collected from tag deployments. The most prominent were pulsive ‘rumble-like’ calls, upsweeping tones, and moans. Using the tag’s accelerometer to identify calls produced by tagged animals enabled us to explore the behavioral context behind call production, revealing that vocalizations were made primarily at slow speeds (mean 1.03 ± 0.26 m/s -1 ), shallow depths (mean 7.63 ± 4.99 m), and temporally proximate to surface behavior (mean 43.3 ± 39.66 sec) most similar to non-foraging associated depth (mean 5.78 ± 1.46 m and speed (mean 1.46 ± 1.11 m/s -1 ) profiles. Vocalizations originating from the tagged animal occurred closer to the conclusion of a foraging event (mean 87.7 ± 119.32 min) than the beginning, with only 7% of all calls occurring during periods of feeding. This study demonstrates that gray whales remain vocal on foraging grounds and that call-associated accelerometry signals can be a valuable tool in identifying individual callers in animal-borne acoustic data. Article in Journal/Newspaper baleen whale Frontiers (Publisher) Frontiers in Marine Science 10 |
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Ocean Engineering Water Science and Technology Aquatic Science Global and Planetary Change Oceanography |
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Ocean Engineering Water Science and Technology Aquatic Science Global and Planetary Change Oceanography Clayton, Hannah Cade, David E. Burnham, Rianna Calambokidis, John Goldbogen, Jeremy Acoustic behavior of gray whales tagged with biologging devices on foraging grounds |
topic_facet |
Ocean Engineering Water Science and Technology Aquatic Science Global and Planetary Change Oceanography |
description |
Understanding the function of baleen whale acoustic signals requires the investigation of calling behaviors relative to location, timing, and behavioral state. Previous studies of gray whale ( Eschrichtius robustus ) vocal behavior have principally used passive recorders and been conducted primarily on breeding grounds and along migratory routes, and not areas associated with foraging. We conducted an analysis of accelerometer and acoustic data collected during 12 deployments of animal-borne tags in 2016, 2019, and 2021 on gray whales that return annually to northern Puget Sound, Washington. We identified 141 calls from gray whales in approximately 128 hours of accelerometer and/or acoustic data collected from tag deployments. The most prominent were pulsive ‘rumble-like’ calls, upsweeping tones, and moans. Using the tag’s accelerometer to identify calls produced by tagged animals enabled us to explore the behavioral context behind call production, revealing that vocalizations were made primarily at slow speeds (mean 1.03 ± 0.26 m/s -1 ), shallow depths (mean 7.63 ± 4.99 m), and temporally proximate to surface behavior (mean 43.3 ± 39.66 sec) most similar to non-foraging associated depth (mean 5.78 ± 1.46 m and speed (mean 1.46 ± 1.11 m/s -1 ) profiles. Vocalizations originating from the tagged animal occurred closer to the conclusion of a foraging event (mean 87.7 ± 119.32 min) than the beginning, with only 7% of all calls occurring during periods of feeding. This study demonstrates that gray whales remain vocal on foraging grounds and that call-associated accelerometry signals can be a valuable tool in identifying individual callers in animal-borne acoustic data. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Clayton, Hannah Cade, David E. Burnham, Rianna Calambokidis, John Goldbogen, Jeremy |
author_facet |
Clayton, Hannah Cade, David E. Burnham, Rianna Calambokidis, John Goldbogen, Jeremy |
author_sort |
Clayton, Hannah |
title |
Acoustic behavior of gray whales tagged with biologging devices on foraging grounds |
title_short |
Acoustic behavior of gray whales tagged with biologging devices on foraging grounds |
title_full |
Acoustic behavior of gray whales tagged with biologging devices on foraging grounds |
title_fullStr |
Acoustic behavior of gray whales tagged with biologging devices on foraging grounds |
title_full_unstemmed |
Acoustic behavior of gray whales tagged with biologging devices on foraging grounds |
title_sort |
acoustic behavior of gray whales tagged with biologging devices on foraging grounds |
publisher |
Frontiers Media SA |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2023.1111666 https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2023.1111666/full |
genre |
baleen whale |
genre_facet |
baleen whale |
op_source |
Frontiers in Marine Science volume 10 ISSN 2296-7745 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2023.1111666 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Marine Science |
container_volume |
10 |
_version_ |
1790598303874809856 |