Spatial and seasonal patterns in acoustic detections of sperm whales Physeter macrocephalus along the continental slope in the western North Atlantic Ocean
The distribution and seasonal movements of sperm whales Physeter macrocephalus are poorly understood in the western North Atlantic Ocean, despite a long history of human exploitation of the species. Cetacean surveys in this region are typically conducted during the summer, when weather conditions ar...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:dc2a615de08641bc9f202bf9e4c58e04 2023-05-15T17:31:23+02:00 Spatial and seasonal patterns in acoustic detections of sperm whales Physeter macrocephalus along the continental slope in the western North Atlantic Ocean Stanistreet, JE Nowacek, DP Bell, JT Cholewiak, DM Hildebrand, JA Hodge, LEW Van Parijs, SM Read, AJ 2018-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3354/esr00867 https://doaj.org/article/dc2a615de08641bc9f202bf9e4c58e04 EN eng Inter-Research https://www.int-res.com/abstracts/esr/v35/p1-13/ https://doaj.org/toc/1863-5407 https://doaj.org/toc/1613-4796 1863-5407 1613-4796 doi:10.3354/esr00867 https://doaj.org/article/dc2a615de08641bc9f202bf9e4c58e04 Endangered Species Research, Vol 35, Pp 1-13 (2018) Zoology QL1-991 Botany QK1-989 article 2018 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3354/esr00867 2022-12-31T03:14:27Z The distribution and seasonal movements of sperm whales Physeter macrocephalus are poorly understood in the western North Atlantic Ocean, despite a long history of human exploitation of the species. Cetacean surveys in this region are typically conducted during the summer, when weather conditions are amenable for visual observation, resulting in a seasonal bias in species occurrence data. In the present study, we conducted multi-year passive acoustic monitoring to assess year-round sperm whale occurrence along the continental slope between Florida and New England, USA. Between 2011 and 2015, we collected 2037 d of recordings using bottom-mounted recorders deployed at 5 sites. We analyzed these recordings for sperm whale echolocation clicks, which were detected commonly between New England and North Carolina, but infrequently off the coast of Florida. In the northern half of the study region, we observed distinct seasonal patterns in the daily prevalence of sperm whale clicks, with a winter peak in occurrence off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, followed by an increase later in the spring at sites further north. South of Cape Hatteras, seasonal patterns were less apparent. We detected sperm whale clicks during all hours of the day throughout the study area, and did not observe strong diel patterns. Overall, our results provide a comprehensive year-round baseline on the occurrence of sperm whales across multiple recording sites, demonstrating the utility of passive acoustic monitoring to assess patterns in sperm whale occurrence across broad spatial and temporal scales. Article in Journal/Newspaper North Atlantic Physeter macrocephalus Sperm whale Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Endangered Species Research 35 1 13 |
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Open Polar |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Zoology QL1-991 Botany QK1-989 |
spellingShingle |
Zoology QL1-991 Botany QK1-989 Stanistreet, JE Nowacek, DP Bell, JT Cholewiak, DM Hildebrand, JA Hodge, LEW Van Parijs, SM Read, AJ Spatial and seasonal patterns in acoustic detections of sperm whales Physeter macrocephalus along the continental slope in the western North Atlantic Ocean |
topic_facet |
Zoology QL1-991 Botany QK1-989 |
description |
The distribution and seasonal movements of sperm whales Physeter macrocephalus are poorly understood in the western North Atlantic Ocean, despite a long history of human exploitation of the species. Cetacean surveys in this region are typically conducted during the summer, when weather conditions are amenable for visual observation, resulting in a seasonal bias in species occurrence data. In the present study, we conducted multi-year passive acoustic monitoring to assess year-round sperm whale occurrence along the continental slope between Florida and New England, USA. Between 2011 and 2015, we collected 2037 d of recordings using bottom-mounted recorders deployed at 5 sites. We analyzed these recordings for sperm whale echolocation clicks, which were detected commonly between New England and North Carolina, but infrequently off the coast of Florida. In the northern half of the study region, we observed distinct seasonal patterns in the daily prevalence of sperm whale clicks, with a winter peak in occurrence off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, followed by an increase later in the spring at sites further north. South of Cape Hatteras, seasonal patterns were less apparent. We detected sperm whale clicks during all hours of the day throughout the study area, and did not observe strong diel patterns. Overall, our results provide a comprehensive year-round baseline on the occurrence of sperm whales across multiple recording sites, demonstrating the utility of passive acoustic monitoring to assess patterns in sperm whale occurrence across broad spatial and temporal scales. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Stanistreet, JE Nowacek, DP Bell, JT Cholewiak, DM Hildebrand, JA Hodge, LEW Van Parijs, SM Read, AJ |
author_facet |
Stanistreet, JE Nowacek, DP Bell, JT Cholewiak, DM Hildebrand, JA Hodge, LEW Van Parijs, SM Read, AJ |
author_sort |
Stanistreet, JE |
title |
Spatial and seasonal patterns in acoustic detections of sperm whales Physeter macrocephalus along the continental slope in the western North Atlantic Ocean |
title_short |
Spatial and seasonal patterns in acoustic detections of sperm whales Physeter macrocephalus along the continental slope in the western North Atlantic Ocean |
title_full |
Spatial and seasonal patterns in acoustic detections of sperm whales Physeter macrocephalus along the continental slope in the western North Atlantic Ocean |
title_fullStr |
Spatial and seasonal patterns in acoustic detections of sperm whales Physeter macrocephalus along the continental slope in the western North Atlantic Ocean |
title_full_unstemmed |
Spatial and seasonal patterns in acoustic detections of sperm whales Physeter macrocephalus along the continental slope in the western North Atlantic Ocean |
title_sort |
spatial and seasonal patterns in acoustic detections of sperm whales physeter macrocephalus along the continental slope in the western north atlantic ocean |
publisher |
Inter-Research |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3354/esr00867 https://doaj.org/article/dc2a615de08641bc9f202bf9e4c58e04 |
genre |
North Atlantic Physeter macrocephalus Sperm whale |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic Physeter macrocephalus Sperm whale |
op_source |
Endangered Species Research, Vol 35, Pp 1-13 (2018) |
op_relation |
https://www.int-res.com/abstracts/esr/v35/p1-13/ https://doaj.org/toc/1863-5407 https://doaj.org/toc/1613-4796 1863-5407 1613-4796 doi:10.3354/esr00867 https://doaj.org/article/dc2a615de08641bc9f202bf9e4c58e04 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3354/esr00867 |
container_title |
Endangered Species Research |
container_volume |
35 |
container_start_page |
1 |
op_container_end_page |
13 |
_version_ |
1766128903381843968 |