Research article / Article de recherche ACOUSTIC BEHAVIOR OF DOLPHINS IN THE PACIFIC OCEAN: IMPLICATIONS FOR USING PASSIVE ACOUSTIC METHODS FOR POPULATION STUDIES

• Main Author: Jay Barlow
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Pacific; Aleutian Island
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.368.6628; http://137.110.142.7/uploadedfiles/divisions/prd/programs/coastal_marine_mammal/rankin.etal_vocal.behavior_canacoust08(1).pdf

The Southwest Fisheries Science Center has been conducting shipboard visual line-transect cetacean surveys for over 30 years, and combined visual and acoustic surveys for seven years. Full incorporation of passive acoustics as a tool for population assessment requires an understanding of the acoustic behavior of cetaceans as well as the limitations of the methods used in these surveys. Our research summarizes data colJected during seven years of combined visual and acoustic surveys throughout the central and eastern North Pacific Ocean, ranging from the Aleutian Island chain in the north, toPeru in the south. Phonations from 2,034 dolphin schools were examined to better understand the acoustic behavior of cetaceans. Equally important are the cetacean schools that were seen but not heard, and this analysis includes an examination of these groups by species, group size, geographic location, and time of day. The results of this analysis allow us to take the first steps to incorporate passive acoustics into line-transect cetacean surveys. RESUME Le Southwest Fisheries Science Center a etudie les cetaces a bord de navires en utilisant des transects lineaires pour des donnees visuelles depuis plus de 30 ans, et une combinaison des methodes visueJles et acoustiques depuis seulement sept ans. L'incorporation complete de l'acoustique passif comme outil