Your attention please: increasing ambient noise levels elicits a change in communication behaviour in humpback whales ( Megaptera novaeangliae )
High background noise is an important obstacle in successful signal detection and perception of an intended acoustic signal. To overcome this problem, many animals modify their acoustic signal by increasing the repetition rate, duration, amplitude or frequency range of the signal. An alternative met...
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crroyalsociety:10.1098/rspb.2009.2319 2024-06-23T07:53:36+00:00 Your attention please: increasing ambient noise levels elicits a change in communication behaviour in humpback whales ( Megaptera novaeangliae ) Dunlop, Rebecca A. Cato, Douglas H. Noad, Michael J. 2010 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2009.2319 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rspb.2009.2319 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rspb.2009.2319 en eng The Royal Society https://royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/ Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences volume 277, issue 1693, page 2521-2529 ISSN 0962-8452 1471-2954 journal-article 2010 crroyalsociety https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2009.2319 2024-06-04T06:22:58Z High background noise is an important obstacle in successful signal detection and perception of an intended acoustic signal. To overcome this problem, many animals modify their acoustic signal by increasing the repetition rate, duration, amplitude or frequency range of the signal. An alternative method to ensure successful signal reception, yet to be tested in animals, involves the use of two different types of signal, where one signal type may enhance the other in periods of high background noise. Humpback whale communication signals comprise two different types: vocal signals, and surface-generated signals such as ‘breaching’ or ‘pectoral slapping’. We found that humpback whales gradually switched from primarily vocal to primarily surface-generated communication in increasing wind speeds and background noise levels, though kept both signal types in their repertoire. Vocal signals have the advantage of having higher information content but may have the disadvantage of loosing this information in a noisy environment. Surface-generated sounds have energy distributed over a greater frequency range and may be less likely to become confused in periods of high wind-generated noise but have less information content when compared with vocal sounds. Therefore, surface-generated sounds may improve detection or enhance the perception of vocal signals in a noisy environment. Article in Journal/Newspaper Humpback Whale Megaptera novaeangliae The Royal Society Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 277 1693 2521 2529 |
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High background noise is an important obstacle in successful signal detection and perception of an intended acoustic signal. To overcome this problem, many animals modify their acoustic signal by increasing the repetition rate, duration, amplitude or frequency range of the signal. An alternative method to ensure successful signal reception, yet to be tested in animals, involves the use of two different types of signal, where one signal type may enhance the other in periods of high background noise. Humpback whale communication signals comprise two different types: vocal signals, and surface-generated signals such as ‘breaching’ or ‘pectoral slapping’. We found that humpback whales gradually switched from primarily vocal to primarily surface-generated communication in increasing wind speeds and background noise levels, though kept both signal types in their repertoire. Vocal signals have the advantage of having higher information content but may have the disadvantage of loosing this information in a noisy environment. Surface-generated sounds have energy distributed over a greater frequency range and may be less likely to become confused in periods of high wind-generated noise but have less information content when compared with vocal sounds. Therefore, surface-generated sounds may improve detection or enhance the perception of vocal signals in a noisy environment. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Dunlop, Rebecca A. Cato, Douglas H. Noad, Michael J. |
spellingShingle |
Dunlop, Rebecca A. Cato, Douglas H. Noad, Michael J. Your attention please: increasing ambient noise levels elicits a change in communication behaviour in humpback whales ( Megaptera novaeangliae ) |
author_facet |
Dunlop, Rebecca A. Cato, Douglas H. Noad, Michael J. |
author_sort |
Dunlop, Rebecca A. |
title |
Your attention please: increasing ambient noise levels elicits a change in communication behaviour in humpback whales ( Megaptera novaeangliae ) |
title_short |
Your attention please: increasing ambient noise levels elicits a change in communication behaviour in humpback whales ( Megaptera novaeangliae ) |
title_full |
Your attention please: increasing ambient noise levels elicits a change in communication behaviour in humpback whales ( Megaptera novaeangliae ) |
title_fullStr |
Your attention please: increasing ambient noise levels elicits a change in communication behaviour in humpback whales ( Megaptera novaeangliae ) |
title_full_unstemmed |
Your attention please: increasing ambient noise levels elicits a change in communication behaviour in humpback whales ( Megaptera novaeangliae ) |
title_sort |
your attention please: increasing ambient noise levels elicits a change in communication behaviour in humpback whales ( megaptera novaeangliae ) |
publisher |
The Royal Society |
publishDate |
2010 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2009.2319 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rspb.2009.2319 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rspb.2009.2319 |
genre |
Humpback Whale Megaptera novaeangliae |
genre_facet |
Humpback Whale Megaptera novaeangliae |
op_source |
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences volume 277, issue 1693, page 2521-2529 ISSN 0962-8452 1471-2954 |
op_rights |
https://royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2009.2319 |
container_title |
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |
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277 |
container_issue |
1693 |
container_start_page |
2521 |
op_container_end_page |
2529 |
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1802645331301629952 |