Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) Song on a Subarctic Feeding Ground
Male humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) are known to produce long complex sequences of structured vocalizations called song. Singing behavior has traditionally been associated with low latitude breeding grounds but is increasingly reported outside these areas. This study provides the first rep...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:18510a274f4e4a44b62395ae5ff63700 2023-05-15T16:35:50+02:00 Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) Song on a Subarctic Feeding Ground Saskia Cathrin Tyarks Ana S. Aniceto Heidi Ahonen Geir Pedersen Ulf Lindstrøm 2021-05-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.669748 https://doaj.org/article/18510a274f4e4a44b62395ae5ff63700 EN eng Frontiers Media S.A. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2021.669748/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-7745 2296-7745 doi:10.3389/fmars.2021.669748 https://doaj.org/article/18510a274f4e4a44b62395ae5ff63700 Frontiers in Marine Science, Vol 8 (2021) passive acoustics song occurrence cetacean Mysticeti North Atlantic Norway Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 article 2021 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.669748 2022-12-31T07:13:09Z Male humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) are known to produce long complex sequences of structured vocalizations called song. Singing behavior has traditionally been associated with low latitude breeding grounds but is increasingly reported outside these areas. This study provides the first report of humpback whale songs in the subarctic waters of Northern Norway using a long-term bottom-moored hydrophone. Data processed included the months January–June 2018 and December 2018–January 2019. Out of 189 days with recordings, humpback whale singing was heard on 79 days. Singing was first detected beginning of January 2018 with a peak in February and was heard until mid-April. No singing activity was found during the summer months and was heard again in December 2018, continuing over January 2019. A total of 131 song sessions, including 35 full sessions, were identified throughout the study period. The longest and shortest complete sessions lasted 815 and 13 min, respectively. The results confirm that singing can be heard over several months in winter and spring on a high latitude feeding ground. This provides additional evidence to the growing literature that singing is not an explicit behavior confined to low latitude breeding grounds. The peak of song occurrence in February appears to coincide with the reproductive cycle of humpback whales. Finally, this study indicates that song occurrence on a subarctic feeding ground likely aids the cultural transmission for the North Atlantic humpback whale population. Article in Journal/Newspaper Humpback Whale Megaptera novaeangliae North Atlantic Northern Norway Subarctic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Norway Frontiers in Marine Science 8 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
passive acoustics song occurrence cetacean Mysticeti North Atlantic Norway Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 |
spellingShingle |
passive acoustics song occurrence cetacean Mysticeti North Atlantic Norway Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 Saskia Cathrin Tyarks Ana S. Aniceto Heidi Ahonen Geir Pedersen Ulf Lindstrøm Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) Song on a Subarctic Feeding Ground |
topic_facet |
passive acoustics song occurrence cetacean Mysticeti North Atlantic Norway Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 |
description |
Male humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) are known to produce long complex sequences of structured vocalizations called song. Singing behavior has traditionally been associated with low latitude breeding grounds but is increasingly reported outside these areas. This study provides the first report of humpback whale songs in the subarctic waters of Northern Norway using a long-term bottom-moored hydrophone. Data processed included the months January–June 2018 and December 2018–January 2019. Out of 189 days with recordings, humpback whale singing was heard on 79 days. Singing was first detected beginning of January 2018 with a peak in February and was heard until mid-April. No singing activity was found during the summer months and was heard again in December 2018, continuing over January 2019. A total of 131 song sessions, including 35 full sessions, were identified throughout the study period. The longest and shortest complete sessions lasted 815 and 13 min, respectively. The results confirm that singing can be heard over several months in winter and spring on a high latitude feeding ground. This provides additional evidence to the growing literature that singing is not an explicit behavior confined to low latitude breeding grounds. The peak of song occurrence in February appears to coincide with the reproductive cycle of humpback whales. Finally, this study indicates that song occurrence on a subarctic feeding ground likely aids the cultural transmission for the North Atlantic humpback whale population. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Saskia Cathrin Tyarks Ana S. Aniceto Heidi Ahonen Geir Pedersen Ulf Lindstrøm |
author_facet |
Saskia Cathrin Tyarks Ana S. Aniceto Heidi Ahonen Geir Pedersen Ulf Lindstrøm |
author_sort |
Saskia Cathrin Tyarks |
title |
Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) Song on a Subarctic Feeding Ground |
title_short |
Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) Song on a Subarctic Feeding Ground |
title_full |
Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) Song on a Subarctic Feeding Ground |
title_fullStr |
Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) Song on a Subarctic Feeding Ground |
title_full_unstemmed |
Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) Song on a Subarctic Feeding Ground |
title_sort |
humpback whale (megaptera novaeangliae) song on a subarctic feeding ground |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.669748 https://doaj.org/article/18510a274f4e4a44b62395ae5ff63700 |
geographic |
Norway |
geographic_facet |
Norway |
genre |
Humpback Whale Megaptera novaeangliae North Atlantic Northern Norway Subarctic |
genre_facet |
Humpback Whale Megaptera novaeangliae North Atlantic Northern Norway Subarctic |
op_source |
Frontiers in Marine Science, Vol 8 (2021) |
op_relation |
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2021.669748/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-7745 2296-7745 doi:10.3389/fmars.2021.669748 https://doaj.org/article/18510a274f4e4a44b62395ae5ff63700 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.669748 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Marine Science |
container_volume |
8 |
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1766026136638193664 |