Seasonal and diel patterns in singing activity of humpback whales migrating through Bermuda
Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) produce song and non-song vocalisations, which allows their presence to be detected through passive acoustic monitoring. To determine the seasonal and diel acoustic presence and acoustic behaviour of humpback whales at the migratory stopover site off Bermuda,...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:11ac7c5911e04818ad927a8610ec8828 2023-05-15T16:35:53+02:00 Seasonal and diel patterns in singing activity of humpback whales migrating through Bermuda Tamara Narganes Homfeldt Denise Risch Andrew Stevenson Lea-Anne Henry 2022-09-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2022.941793 https://doaj.org/article/11ac7c5911e04818ad927a8610ec8828 EN eng Frontiers Media S.A. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2022.941793/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-7745 2296-7745 doi:10.3389/fmars.2022.941793 https://doaj.org/article/11ac7c5911e04818ad927a8610ec8828 Frontiers in Marine Science, Vol 9 (2022) North Atlantic humpback whale Bermuda song seasonality diel pattern passive acoustic monitoring Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 article 2022 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2022.941793 2022-12-31T00:38:57Z Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) produce song and non-song vocalisations, which allows their presence to be detected through passive acoustic monitoring. To determine the seasonal and diel acoustic presence and acoustic behaviour of humpback whales at the migratory stopover site off Bermuda, three hydrophones were deployed between March 2018 and April 2019 on Challenger Bank and the Bermuda platform. Song was the predominant vocalisation type encountered, with 65% of song recordings containing whale chorus and a clear seasonal trend of humpback whale occurrence in the spring and winter months from late December to mid-May. A strong diel pattern in singing activity was detected. Singing activity significantly increased at night relative to the daytime (p<0.01), whilst twilight periods were characterised by intermediate levels of singing. The song structure encountered in spring 2018 consisted of 18 units, 6 themes and 5 transitional phrases. The high occurrence of whale chorus and the strong seasonal and diel patterns of male humpback whale singing activity highlights the importance of Bermuda not just on their northward migration during spring, as described historically, but also on their southward migration during winter. Bermuda therefore constitutes a two-way migratory stopover site for humpback whales. The present study also provides Bermuda’s planning authorities with better constraints on the duration and intensity of anthropogenic activities in these waters. Article in Journal/Newspaper Humpback Whale Megaptera novaeangliae North Atlantic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Frontiers in Marine Science 9 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
North Atlantic humpback whale Bermuda song seasonality diel pattern passive acoustic monitoring Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 |
spellingShingle |
North Atlantic humpback whale Bermuda song seasonality diel pattern passive acoustic monitoring Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 Tamara Narganes Homfeldt Denise Risch Andrew Stevenson Lea-Anne Henry Seasonal and diel patterns in singing activity of humpback whales migrating through Bermuda |
topic_facet |
North Atlantic humpback whale Bermuda song seasonality diel pattern passive acoustic monitoring Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 |
description |
Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) produce song and non-song vocalisations, which allows their presence to be detected through passive acoustic monitoring. To determine the seasonal and diel acoustic presence and acoustic behaviour of humpback whales at the migratory stopover site off Bermuda, three hydrophones were deployed between March 2018 and April 2019 on Challenger Bank and the Bermuda platform. Song was the predominant vocalisation type encountered, with 65% of song recordings containing whale chorus and a clear seasonal trend of humpback whale occurrence in the spring and winter months from late December to mid-May. A strong diel pattern in singing activity was detected. Singing activity significantly increased at night relative to the daytime (p<0.01), whilst twilight periods were characterised by intermediate levels of singing. The song structure encountered in spring 2018 consisted of 18 units, 6 themes and 5 transitional phrases. The high occurrence of whale chorus and the strong seasonal and diel patterns of male humpback whale singing activity highlights the importance of Bermuda not just on their northward migration during spring, as described historically, but also on their southward migration during winter. Bermuda therefore constitutes a two-way migratory stopover site for humpback whales. The present study also provides Bermuda’s planning authorities with better constraints on the duration and intensity of anthropogenic activities in these waters. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Tamara Narganes Homfeldt Denise Risch Andrew Stevenson Lea-Anne Henry |
author_facet |
Tamara Narganes Homfeldt Denise Risch Andrew Stevenson Lea-Anne Henry |
author_sort |
Tamara Narganes Homfeldt |
title |
Seasonal and diel patterns in singing activity of humpback whales migrating through Bermuda |
title_short |
Seasonal and diel patterns in singing activity of humpback whales migrating through Bermuda |
title_full |
Seasonal and diel patterns in singing activity of humpback whales migrating through Bermuda |
title_fullStr |
Seasonal and diel patterns in singing activity of humpback whales migrating through Bermuda |
title_full_unstemmed |
Seasonal and diel patterns in singing activity of humpback whales migrating through Bermuda |
title_sort |
seasonal and diel patterns in singing activity of humpback whales migrating through bermuda |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2022.941793 https://doaj.org/article/11ac7c5911e04818ad927a8610ec8828 |
genre |
Humpback Whale Megaptera novaeangliae North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
Humpback Whale Megaptera novaeangliae North Atlantic |
op_source |
Frontiers in Marine Science, Vol 9 (2022) |
op_relation |
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2022.941793/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-7745 2296-7745 doi:10.3389/fmars.2022.941793 https://doaj.org/article/11ac7c5911e04818ad927a8610ec8828 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2022.941793 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Marine Science |
container_volume |
9 |
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1766026186857644032 |