Sperm whale predator-prey interactions involve chasing and buzzing, but no acoustic stunning
The sperm whale carries a hypertrophied nose that generates powerful clicks for long-range echolocation. However, it remains a conundrum how this bizarrely shaped apex predator catches its prey. Several hypotheses have been advanced to propose both active and passive means to acquire prey, including...
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ftcsic:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/346341 2024-06-23T07:56:58+00:00 Sperm whale predator-prey interactions involve chasing and buzzing, but no acoustic stunning Fais, A Johnson, M Wilson, M Aguilar de Soto, Natacha Madsen, P T 2016-06-24 http://hdl.handle.net/10261/346341 https://doi.org/10.1038/srep28562 https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/84976514111 en eng Springer Nature Scientific reports Publisher's version https://doi.org/10.1038/srep28562 No Scientific Reports 6 : 28562 (2016) 2045-2322 http://hdl.handle.net/10261/346341 doi:10.1038/srep28562 27340122 2-s2.0-84976514111 https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/84976514111 open Animal behaviour Behavioural ecology artÃculo http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501 2016 ftcsic https://doi.org/10.1038/srep28562 2024-05-29T00:06:20Z The sperm whale carries a hypertrophied nose that generates powerful clicks for long-range echolocation. However, it remains a conundrum how this bizarrely shaped apex predator catches its prey. Several hypotheses have been advanced to propose both active and passive means to acquire prey, including acoustic debilitation of prey with very powerful clicks. Here we test these hypotheses by using sound and movement recording tags in a fine-scale study of buzz sequences to relate the acoustic behaviour of sperm whales with changes in acceleration in their head region during prey capture attempts. We show that in the terminal buzz phase, sperm whales reduce inter-click intervals and estimated source levels by 1-2 orders of magnitude. As a result, received levels at the prey are more than an order of magnitude below levels required for debilitation, precluding acoustic stunning to facilitate prey capture. Rather, buzzing involves high-frequency, low amplitude clicks well suited to provide high-resolution biosonar updates during the last stages of capture. The high temporal resolution helps to guide motor patterns during occasionally prolonged chases in which prey are eventually subdued with the aid of fast jaw movements and/or buccal suction as indicated by acceleration transients (jerks) near the end of buzzes. Field work in Norway was funded by the Carlsberg Foundation and the National Danish Research Council to PTM. The NMFS study was funded by the U.S. Mineral Management Service. MJ is funded by the Marine Alliance for Science and Technology, Scotland, and by a Marie Curie Career Integration Grant. MW was funded by the Danish Council for Independent Research, Natural Science and NAS is currently funded by a EU Horizon 2020 MSC Fellowship. Peer reviewed Article in Journal/Newspaper Sperm whale Digital.CSIC (Spanish National Research Council) Norway Scientific Reports 6 1 |
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Open Polar |
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Digital.CSIC (Spanish National Research Council) |
op_collection_id |
ftcsic |
language |
English |
topic |
Animal behaviour Behavioural ecology |
spellingShingle |
Animal behaviour Behavioural ecology Fais, A Johnson, M Wilson, M Aguilar de Soto, Natacha Madsen, P T Sperm whale predator-prey interactions involve chasing and buzzing, but no acoustic stunning |
topic_facet |
Animal behaviour Behavioural ecology |
description |
The sperm whale carries a hypertrophied nose that generates powerful clicks for long-range echolocation. However, it remains a conundrum how this bizarrely shaped apex predator catches its prey. Several hypotheses have been advanced to propose both active and passive means to acquire prey, including acoustic debilitation of prey with very powerful clicks. Here we test these hypotheses by using sound and movement recording tags in a fine-scale study of buzz sequences to relate the acoustic behaviour of sperm whales with changes in acceleration in their head region during prey capture attempts. We show that in the terminal buzz phase, sperm whales reduce inter-click intervals and estimated source levels by 1-2 orders of magnitude. As a result, received levels at the prey are more than an order of magnitude below levels required for debilitation, precluding acoustic stunning to facilitate prey capture. Rather, buzzing involves high-frequency, low amplitude clicks well suited to provide high-resolution biosonar updates during the last stages of capture. The high temporal resolution helps to guide motor patterns during occasionally prolonged chases in which prey are eventually subdued with the aid of fast jaw movements and/or buccal suction as indicated by acceleration transients (jerks) near the end of buzzes. Field work in Norway was funded by the Carlsberg Foundation and the National Danish Research Council to PTM. The NMFS study was funded by the U.S. Mineral Management Service. MJ is funded by the Marine Alliance for Science and Technology, Scotland, and by a Marie Curie Career Integration Grant. MW was funded by the Danish Council for Independent Research, Natural Science and NAS is currently funded by a EU Horizon 2020 MSC Fellowship. Peer reviewed |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Fais, A Johnson, M Wilson, M Aguilar de Soto, Natacha Madsen, P T |
author_facet |
Fais, A Johnson, M Wilson, M Aguilar de Soto, Natacha Madsen, P T |
author_sort |
Fais, A |
title |
Sperm whale predator-prey interactions involve chasing and buzzing, but no acoustic stunning |
title_short |
Sperm whale predator-prey interactions involve chasing and buzzing, but no acoustic stunning |
title_full |
Sperm whale predator-prey interactions involve chasing and buzzing, but no acoustic stunning |
title_fullStr |
Sperm whale predator-prey interactions involve chasing and buzzing, but no acoustic stunning |
title_full_unstemmed |
Sperm whale predator-prey interactions involve chasing and buzzing, but no acoustic stunning |
title_sort |
sperm whale predator-prey interactions involve chasing and buzzing, but no acoustic stunning |
publisher |
Springer Nature |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10261/346341 https://doi.org/10.1038/srep28562 https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/84976514111 |
geographic |
Norway |
geographic_facet |
Norway |
genre |
Sperm whale |
genre_facet |
Sperm whale |
op_relation |
Scientific reports Publisher's version https://doi.org/10.1038/srep28562 No Scientific Reports 6 : 28562 (2016) 2045-2322 http://hdl.handle.net/10261/346341 doi:10.1038/srep28562 27340122 2-s2.0-84976514111 https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/84976514111 |
op_rights |
open |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/srep28562 |
container_title |
Scientific Reports |
container_volume |
6 |
container_issue |
1 |
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1802650385250254848 |