Using sonobuoys and visual surveys to characterize North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis) calling behavior in the Gulf of St. Lawrence
The appropriate use and interpretation of passive acoustic data for monitoring the Critically Endangered North Atlantic right whale Eubalaena glacialis (hereafter right whale) rely on knowledge of their calling behavior and how it varies with respect to time, space, demographics, and observed behavi...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:dd395050be3340c7aa72b00aba76c567 2023-05-15T16:08:16+02:00 Using sonobuoys and visual surveys to characterize North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis) calling behavior in the Gulf of St. Lawrence KJ Franklin TVN Cole DM Cholewiak PA Duley LM Crowe PK Hamilton AR Knowlton CT Taggart HD Johnson 2022-11-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3354/esr01208 https://doaj.org/article/dd395050be3340c7aa72b00aba76c567 EN eng Inter-Research https://www.int-res.com/abstracts/esr/v49/p159-174/ https://doaj.org/toc/1863-5407 https://doaj.org/toc/1613-4796 1863-5407 1613-4796 doi:10.3354/esr01208 https://doaj.org/article/dd395050be3340c7aa72b00aba76c567 Endangered Species Research, Vol 49, Pp 159-174 (2022) Zoology QL1-991 Botany QK1-989 article 2022 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3354/esr01208 2023-02-12T01:31:31Z The appropriate use and interpretation of passive acoustic data for monitoring the Critically Endangered North Atlantic right whale Eubalaena glacialis (hereafter right whale) rely on knowledge of their calling behavior and how it varies with respect to time, space, demographics, and observed behavior. To assess such relationships in a habitat of increased management importance, sonobuoys (disposable drifting hydrophones) were deployed in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canada, to record sounds from aggregating right whales during visual aerial surveys in the summers (June through August) of 2017 (n = 8), 2018 (n = 13), and 2019 (n = 16). Upcalls, gunshots, and various mid-frequency (250-800 Hz) tonal calls were compared to demographics and observed behaviors of concurrently observed right whales using correlation matrices, linear regressions, and generalized linear models. Our results show that (1) call rates increased from June to August for all call types; (2) calling rates were associated negatively with observed foraging behavior and positively with observed socializing behavior; (3) upcalls were occasionally produced at higher rates (>20 calls h-1) when in association with gunshots and tonal calls; (4) acoustic monitoring did not always detect right whale presence at fine timescales (2-6 h), but presence estimates were improved when multiple calls types were considered; and (5) calling rates were too variable to provide reliable density estimates of observed right whales. These results have important implications for the interpretation of passive acoustic monitoring in this habitat and provide evidence that some whale behaviors (e.g. socializing) may be reliably inferred from acoustics alone. Article in Journal/Newspaper Eubalaena glacialis North Atlantic North Atlantic right whale Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Canada Endangered Species Research 49 159 174 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
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 KJ Franklin TVN Cole DM Cholewiak PA Duley LM Crowe PK Hamilton AR Knowlton CT Taggart HD Johnson Using sonobuoys and visual surveys to characterize North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis) calling behavior in the Gulf of St. Lawrence |
topic_facet |
Zoology QL1-991 Botany QK1-989 |
description |
The appropriate use and interpretation of passive acoustic data for monitoring the Critically Endangered North Atlantic right whale Eubalaena glacialis (hereafter right whale) rely on knowledge of their calling behavior and how it varies with respect to time, space, demographics, and observed behavior. To assess such relationships in a habitat of increased management importance, sonobuoys (disposable drifting hydrophones) were deployed in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canada, to record sounds from aggregating right whales during visual aerial surveys in the summers (June through August) of 2017 (n = 8), 2018 (n = 13), and 2019 (n = 16). Upcalls, gunshots, and various mid-frequency (250-800 Hz) tonal calls were compared to demographics and observed behaviors of concurrently observed right whales using correlation matrices, linear regressions, and generalized linear models. Our results show that (1) call rates increased from June to August for all call types; (2) calling rates were associated negatively with observed foraging behavior and positively with observed socializing behavior; (3) upcalls were occasionally produced at higher rates (>20 calls h-1) when in association with gunshots and tonal calls; (4) acoustic monitoring did not always detect right whale presence at fine timescales (2-6 h), but presence estimates were improved when multiple calls types were considered; and (5) calling rates were too variable to provide reliable density estimates of observed right whales. These results have important implications for the interpretation of passive acoustic monitoring in this habitat and provide evidence that some whale behaviors (e.g. socializing) may be reliably inferred from acoustics alone. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
KJ Franklin TVN Cole DM Cholewiak PA Duley LM Crowe PK Hamilton AR Knowlton CT Taggart HD Johnson |
author_facet |
KJ Franklin TVN Cole DM Cholewiak PA Duley LM Crowe PK Hamilton AR Knowlton CT Taggart HD Johnson |
author_sort |
KJ Franklin |
title |
Using sonobuoys and visual surveys to characterize North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis) calling behavior in the Gulf of St. Lawrence |
title_short |
Using sonobuoys and visual surveys to characterize North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis) calling behavior in the Gulf of St. Lawrence |
title_full |
Using sonobuoys and visual surveys to characterize North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis) calling behavior in the Gulf of St. Lawrence |
title_fullStr |
Using sonobuoys and visual surveys to characterize North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis) calling behavior in the Gulf of St. Lawrence |
title_full_unstemmed |
Using sonobuoys and visual surveys to characterize North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis) calling behavior in the Gulf of St. Lawrence |
title_sort |
using sonobuoys and visual surveys to characterize north atlantic right whale (eubalaena glacialis) calling behavior in the gulf of st. lawrence |
publisher |
Inter-Research |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3354/esr01208 https://doaj.org/article/dd395050be3340c7aa72b00aba76c567 |
geographic |
Canada |
geographic_facet |
Canada |
genre |
Eubalaena glacialis North Atlantic North Atlantic right whale |
genre_facet |
Eubalaena glacialis North Atlantic North Atlantic right whale |
op_source |
Endangered Species Research, Vol 49, Pp 159-174 (2022) |
op_relation |
https://www.int-res.com/abstracts/esr/v49/p159-174/ https://doaj.org/toc/1863-5407 https://doaj.org/toc/1613-4796 1863-5407 1613-4796 doi:10.3354/esr01208 https://doaj.org/article/dd395050be3340c7aa72b00aba76c567 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3354/esr01208 |
container_title |
Endangered Species Research |
container_volume |
49 |
container_start_page |
159 |
op_container_end_page |
174 |
_version_ |
1766404336111321088 |