Temporal Trends and Effects of Noise on Upsweep Calls of Eastern South Pacific Southern Right Whales
Eastern South Pacific southern right whales (ESPSRW) are a subpopulation of southern right whales (Eubalaena australis) off the coasts of Peru and Chile recognized by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as critically endangered as a result of heavy whaling efforts in the la...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:541238388a90484babf899b94d85b839 2023-05-15T15:45:15+02:00 Temporal Trends and Effects of Noise on Upsweep Calls of Eastern South Pacific Southern Right Whales Ellen Rose Jacobs Rafaela Landea-Briones Laela Sayigh 2022-08-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3389/frsen.2022.909309 https://doaj.org/article/541238388a90484babf899b94d85b839 EN eng Frontiers Media S.A. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frsen.2022.909309/full https://doaj.org/toc/2673-6187 2673-6187 doi:10.3389/frsen.2022.909309 https://doaj.org/article/541238388a90484babf899b94d85b839 Frontiers in Remote Sensing, Vol 3 (2022) passive acoustic monitoring southern right whales diel trends temporal trends third octave levels active space Geophysics. Cosmic physics QC801-809 Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 article 2022 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3389/frsen.2022.909309 2022-12-30T23:38:40Z Eastern South Pacific southern right whales (ESPSRW) are a subpopulation of southern right whales (Eubalaena australis) off the coasts of Peru and Chile recognized by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as critically endangered as a result of heavy whaling efforts in the late 18th to 20th centuries. Most recent population estimates put their numbers around 50 individuals. To test for the efficacy of passive acoustic monitoring of this population, we recorded 5 months of continuous acoustic data (January 2012-June 2012) off the southwestern tip of Isla de Chiloé. To test for trends in occurrence, we identified 11,313 individual ESPSRW upsweep calls, which have been associated with maintaining contact with conspecifics. Call occurrence increased over the course of the deployment and peaked between April and June, indicating an increase in use of this area. A clear diel pattern in which upsweep calls were predominately detected during dusk and night hours was identified, indicating ESPSRW are likely foraging during daylight hours, as upsweep calls are inversely related to foraging behavior. We quantified noise levels in the frequency range of their communication (100 Hz third octave) to understand the change in active space whales may be experiencing. We measured noise levels from 90 dB re 1 μPa to 111 dB re 1 µPa (5th and 95th percentile), a 21 dB fluctuation that results in an order-of-magnitude decrease in active space area. We identified sources of high noise at or above the 75th percentile as predominately blue whale calls (occurring in 71.6% of total sampled minutes) and ship noise (occurring in 69.4% of total sampled minutes). Ship noise was responsible for outliers in excess of 140 dB re 1 µPa. In a population as diminished as ESPSRW, such disruptions of their communication range could result in significant barriers to maintaining contact with conspecifics. Passive acoustic monitoring is a powerful tool for monitoring populations as rarely sighted as ESPSRW. Understanding trends in ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Blue whale Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Pacific Chiloé ENVELOPE(-63.983,-63.983,-65.517,-65.517) Frontiers in Remote Sensing 3 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
passive acoustic monitoring southern right whales diel trends temporal trends third octave levels active space Geophysics. Cosmic physics QC801-809 Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 |
spellingShingle |
passive acoustic monitoring southern right whales diel trends temporal trends third octave levels active space Geophysics. Cosmic physics QC801-809 Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 Ellen Rose Jacobs Rafaela Landea-Briones Laela Sayigh Temporal Trends and Effects of Noise on Upsweep Calls of Eastern South Pacific Southern Right Whales |
topic_facet |
passive acoustic monitoring southern right whales diel trends temporal trends third octave levels active space Geophysics. Cosmic physics QC801-809 Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 |
description |
Eastern South Pacific southern right whales (ESPSRW) are a subpopulation of southern right whales (Eubalaena australis) off the coasts of Peru and Chile recognized by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as critically endangered as a result of heavy whaling efforts in the late 18th to 20th centuries. Most recent population estimates put their numbers around 50 individuals. To test for the efficacy of passive acoustic monitoring of this population, we recorded 5 months of continuous acoustic data (January 2012-June 2012) off the southwestern tip of Isla de Chiloé. To test for trends in occurrence, we identified 11,313 individual ESPSRW upsweep calls, which have been associated with maintaining contact with conspecifics. Call occurrence increased over the course of the deployment and peaked between April and June, indicating an increase in use of this area. A clear diel pattern in which upsweep calls were predominately detected during dusk and night hours was identified, indicating ESPSRW are likely foraging during daylight hours, as upsweep calls are inversely related to foraging behavior. We quantified noise levels in the frequency range of their communication (100 Hz third octave) to understand the change in active space whales may be experiencing. We measured noise levels from 90 dB re 1 μPa to 111 dB re 1 µPa (5th and 95th percentile), a 21 dB fluctuation that results in an order-of-magnitude decrease in active space area. We identified sources of high noise at or above the 75th percentile as predominately blue whale calls (occurring in 71.6% of total sampled minutes) and ship noise (occurring in 69.4% of total sampled minutes). Ship noise was responsible for outliers in excess of 140 dB re 1 µPa. In a population as diminished as ESPSRW, such disruptions of their communication range could result in significant barriers to maintaining contact with conspecifics. Passive acoustic monitoring is a powerful tool for monitoring populations as rarely sighted as ESPSRW. Understanding trends in ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Ellen Rose Jacobs Rafaela Landea-Briones Laela Sayigh |
author_facet |
Ellen Rose Jacobs Rafaela Landea-Briones Laela Sayigh |
author_sort |
Ellen Rose Jacobs |
title |
Temporal Trends and Effects of Noise on Upsweep Calls of Eastern South Pacific Southern Right Whales |
title_short |
Temporal Trends and Effects of Noise on Upsweep Calls of Eastern South Pacific Southern Right Whales |
title_full |
Temporal Trends and Effects of Noise on Upsweep Calls of Eastern South Pacific Southern Right Whales |
title_fullStr |
Temporal Trends and Effects of Noise on Upsweep Calls of Eastern South Pacific Southern Right Whales |
title_full_unstemmed |
Temporal Trends and Effects of Noise on Upsweep Calls of Eastern South Pacific Southern Right Whales |
title_sort |
temporal trends and effects of noise on upsweep calls of eastern south pacific southern right whales |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3389/frsen.2022.909309 https://doaj.org/article/541238388a90484babf899b94d85b839 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-63.983,-63.983,-65.517,-65.517) |
geographic |
Pacific Chiloé |
geographic_facet |
Pacific Chiloé |
genre |
Blue whale |
genre_facet |
Blue whale |
op_source |
Frontiers in Remote Sensing, Vol 3 (2022) |
op_relation |
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frsen.2022.909309/full https://doaj.org/toc/2673-6187 2673-6187 doi:10.3389/frsen.2022.909309 https://doaj.org/article/541238388a90484babf899b94d85b839 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/frsen.2022.909309 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Remote Sensing |
container_volume |
3 |
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1766379580983083008 |