Temporal evolution of the Mediterranean fin whale song

Abstract We present an analysis of fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus) songs on passive acoustic recordings from the Pelagos Sanctuary (Western Mediterranean Basin). The recordings were gathered between 2008 and 2018 using 2 different hydrophone stations. We show how 20 Hz fin whale pulses can be auto...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Scientific Reports
Main Authors: Paul Best, Ricard Marxer, Sébastien Paris, Hervé Glotin
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2022
Subjects:
R
Q
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-15379-0
https://doaj.org/article/8fcde5d2a959409ca30a67b6ccf037d4
Description
Summary:Abstract We present an analysis of fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus) songs on passive acoustic recordings from the Pelagos Sanctuary (Western Mediterranean Basin). The recordings were gathered between 2008 and 2018 using 2 different hydrophone stations. We show how 20 Hz fin whale pulses can be automatically detected using a low complexity convolutional neural network (CNN) despite data variability (different recording devices exposed to diverse noises). The pulses were further classified into the two categories described in past studies and inter pulse intervals (IPI) were measured. The results confirm previous observations on the local relationship between pulse type and IPI with substantially more data. Furthermore we show inter-annual shifts in IPI and an intra-annual trend in pulse center frequency. This study provides new elements of comparison for the understanding of long term fin whale song trends worldwide.