Multiple pygmy blue whale acoustic populations in the Indian Ocean: whale song identifies a possible new population
Abstract Blue whales were brought to the edge of extinction by commercial whaling in the twentieth century and their recovery rate in the Southern Hemisphere has been slow; they remain endangered. Blue whales, although the largest animals on Earth, are difficult to study in the Southern Hemisphere,...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:01bc61092f114adc8e29ae8e9c8910b9 2023-05-15T15:45:08+02:00 Multiple pygmy blue whale acoustic populations in the Indian Ocean: whale song identifies a possible new population Emmanuelle C. Leroy Jean-Yves Royer Abigail Alling Ben Maslen Tracey L. Rogers 2021-04-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-88062-5 https://doaj.org/article/01bc61092f114adc8e29ae8e9c8910b9 EN eng Nature Portfolio https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-88062-5 https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322 doi:10.1038/s41598-021-88062-5 2045-2322 https://doaj.org/article/01bc61092f114adc8e29ae8e9c8910b9 Scientific Reports, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-21 (2021) Medicine R Science Q article 2021 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-88062-5 2022-12-31T08:07:46Z Abstract Blue whales were brought to the edge of extinction by commercial whaling in the twentieth century and their recovery rate in the Southern Hemisphere has been slow; they remain endangered. Blue whales, although the largest animals on Earth, are difficult to study in the Southern Hemisphere, thus their population structure, distribution and migration remain poorly known. Fortunately, blue whales produce powerful and stereotyped songs, which prove an effective clue for monitoring their different ‘acoustic populations.’ The DGD-Chagos song has been previously reported in the central Indian Ocean. A comparison of this song with the pygmy blue and Omura’s whale songs shows that the Chagos song are likely produced by a distinct previously unknown pygmy blue whale population. These songs are a large part of the underwater soundscape in the tropical Indian Ocean and have been so for nearly two decades. Seasonal differences in song detections among our six recording sites suggest that the Chagos whales migrate from the eastern to western central Indian Ocean, around the Chagos Archipelago, then further east, up to the north of Western Australia, and possibly further north, as far as Sri Lanka. The Indian Ocean holds a greater diversity of blue whale populations than thought previously. Article in Journal/Newspaper Blue whale Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Indian Scientific Reports 11 1 |
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Medicine R Science Q |
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Medicine R Science Q Emmanuelle C. Leroy Jean-Yves Royer Abigail Alling Ben Maslen Tracey L. Rogers Multiple pygmy blue whale acoustic populations in the Indian Ocean: whale song identifies a possible new population |
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Medicine R Science Q |
description |
Abstract Blue whales were brought to the edge of extinction by commercial whaling in the twentieth century and their recovery rate in the Southern Hemisphere has been slow; they remain endangered. Blue whales, although the largest animals on Earth, are difficult to study in the Southern Hemisphere, thus their population structure, distribution and migration remain poorly known. Fortunately, blue whales produce powerful and stereotyped songs, which prove an effective clue for monitoring their different ‘acoustic populations.’ The DGD-Chagos song has been previously reported in the central Indian Ocean. A comparison of this song with the pygmy blue and Omura’s whale songs shows that the Chagos song are likely produced by a distinct previously unknown pygmy blue whale population. These songs are a large part of the underwater soundscape in the tropical Indian Ocean and have been so for nearly two decades. Seasonal differences in song detections among our six recording sites suggest that the Chagos whales migrate from the eastern to western central Indian Ocean, around the Chagos Archipelago, then further east, up to the north of Western Australia, and possibly further north, as far as Sri Lanka. The Indian Ocean holds a greater diversity of blue whale populations than thought previously. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Emmanuelle C. Leroy Jean-Yves Royer Abigail Alling Ben Maslen Tracey L. Rogers |
author_facet |
Emmanuelle C. Leroy Jean-Yves Royer Abigail Alling Ben Maslen Tracey L. Rogers |
author_sort |
Emmanuelle C. Leroy |
title |
Multiple pygmy blue whale acoustic populations in the Indian Ocean: whale song identifies a possible new population |
title_short |
Multiple pygmy blue whale acoustic populations in the Indian Ocean: whale song identifies a possible new population |
title_full |
Multiple pygmy blue whale acoustic populations in the Indian Ocean: whale song identifies a possible new population |
title_fullStr |
Multiple pygmy blue whale acoustic populations in the Indian Ocean: whale song identifies a possible new population |
title_full_unstemmed |
Multiple pygmy blue whale acoustic populations in the Indian Ocean: whale song identifies a possible new population |
title_sort |
multiple pygmy blue whale acoustic populations in the indian ocean: whale song identifies a possible new population |
publisher |
Nature Portfolio |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-88062-5 https://doaj.org/article/01bc61092f114adc8e29ae8e9c8910b9 |
geographic |
Indian |
geographic_facet |
Indian |
genre |
Blue whale |
genre_facet |
Blue whale |
op_source |
Scientific Reports, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-21 (2021) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-88062-5 https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322 doi:10.1038/s41598-021-88062-5 2045-2322 https://doaj.org/article/01bc61092f114adc8e29ae8e9c8910b9 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-88062-5 |
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Scientific Reports |
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11 |
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1 |
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1766379486032429056 |