Can you hear me? Impacts of underwater noise on communication space of adult, sub-adult and calf contact calls of endangered St. Lawrence belugas (Delphinapterus leucas)
Noise and anthropogenic disturbances from vessel traffic are an important threat to the recovery of the endangered St. Lawrence Estuary (SLE) beluga population. The consequences of acoustic masking could be particularly adverse in the case of critical vocalizations that maintain contact between moth...
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Norwegian Polar Institute
2021
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:e7c072cfefe842b3a176e3edb468c35d 2023-05-15T15:41:40+02:00 Can you hear me? Impacts of underwater noise on communication space of adult, sub-adult and calf contact calls of endangered St. Lawrence belugas (Delphinapterus leucas) Valeria Vergara Jason Wood Véronique Lesage Audra Ames Marie-Ana Mikus Robert Michaud 2021-07-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.33265/polar.v40.5521 https://doaj.org/article/e7c072cfefe842b3a176e3edb468c35d EN eng Norwegian Polar Institute https://polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/5521/13733 https://doaj.org/toc/0800-0395 https://doaj.org/toc/1751-8369 0800-0395 1751-8369 doi:10.33265/polar.v40.5521 https://doaj.org/article/e7c072cfefe842b3a176e3edb468c35d Polar Research, Vol 40, Pp 1-19 (2021) communication masking communication range active space vessel traffic noise pollution anthropogenic noise Environmental sciences GE1-350 Oceanography GC1-1581 article 2021 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.33265/polar.v40.5521 2022-12-31T08:19:30Z Noise and anthropogenic disturbances from vessel traffic are an important threat to the recovery of the endangered St. Lawrence Estuary (SLE) beluga population. The consequences of acoustic masking could be particularly adverse in the case of critical vocalizations that maintain contact between mothers and their dependent but mobile calves. This study models the communication range of adults, sub-adults and newborn beluga contact calls in the presence and absence of vessels in an important summering area for this population. Ambient noise measurements, a composite beluga audiogram and apparent source levels of adult/sub-adult and newborn calls, informed the model. Apparent source levels were estimated from received levels of contact calls produced by four individuals carrying digital acoustic tags in the SLE, Canada, and from received levels of calls recorded from two adults and a newborn calf at an aquarium, at known distances from a calibrated hydrophone. The median communication ranges were over 18 times larger for SLE adult and sub-adult calls than for newborn calls, with a 57 and 53% reduction in range in the presence of vessel noise, respectively. For newborn calls, this results in a median range of 170 m in vessel noise. These first estimates of the communication range of beluga vocalizations with a known function suggest that masking of the quiet calls of newborns by anthropogenic noise could impair mother–calf contact. Article in Journal/Newspaper Beluga Beluga* Delphinapterus leucas Polar Research Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Canada Polar Research 40 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
communication masking communication range active space vessel traffic noise pollution anthropogenic noise Environmental sciences GE1-350 Oceanography GC1-1581 |
spellingShingle |
communication masking communication range active space vessel traffic noise pollution anthropogenic noise Environmental sciences GE1-350 Oceanography GC1-1581 Valeria Vergara Jason Wood Véronique Lesage Audra Ames Marie-Ana Mikus Robert Michaud Can you hear me? Impacts of underwater noise on communication space of adult, sub-adult and calf contact calls of endangered St. Lawrence belugas (Delphinapterus leucas) |
topic_facet |
communication masking communication range active space vessel traffic noise pollution anthropogenic noise Environmental sciences GE1-350 Oceanography GC1-1581 |
description |
Noise and anthropogenic disturbances from vessel traffic are an important threat to the recovery of the endangered St. Lawrence Estuary (SLE) beluga population. The consequences of acoustic masking could be particularly adverse in the case of critical vocalizations that maintain contact between mothers and their dependent but mobile calves. This study models the communication range of adults, sub-adults and newborn beluga contact calls in the presence and absence of vessels in an important summering area for this population. Ambient noise measurements, a composite beluga audiogram and apparent source levels of adult/sub-adult and newborn calls, informed the model. Apparent source levels were estimated from received levels of contact calls produced by four individuals carrying digital acoustic tags in the SLE, Canada, and from received levels of calls recorded from two adults and a newborn calf at an aquarium, at known distances from a calibrated hydrophone. The median communication ranges were over 18 times larger for SLE adult and sub-adult calls than for newborn calls, with a 57 and 53% reduction in range in the presence of vessel noise, respectively. For newborn calls, this results in a median range of 170 m in vessel noise. These first estimates of the communication range of beluga vocalizations with a known function suggest that masking of the quiet calls of newborns by anthropogenic noise could impair mother–calf contact. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Valeria Vergara Jason Wood Véronique Lesage Audra Ames Marie-Ana Mikus Robert Michaud |
author_facet |
Valeria Vergara Jason Wood Véronique Lesage Audra Ames Marie-Ana Mikus Robert Michaud |
author_sort |
Valeria Vergara |
title |
Can you hear me? Impacts of underwater noise on communication space of adult, sub-adult and calf contact calls of endangered St. Lawrence belugas (Delphinapterus leucas) |
title_short |
Can you hear me? Impacts of underwater noise on communication space of adult, sub-adult and calf contact calls of endangered St. Lawrence belugas (Delphinapterus leucas) |
title_full |
Can you hear me? Impacts of underwater noise on communication space of adult, sub-adult and calf contact calls of endangered St. Lawrence belugas (Delphinapterus leucas) |
title_fullStr |
Can you hear me? Impacts of underwater noise on communication space of adult, sub-adult and calf contact calls of endangered St. Lawrence belugas (Delphinapterus leucas) |
title_full_unstemmed |
Can you hear me? Impacts of underwater noise on communication space of adult, sub-adult and calf contact calls of endangered St. Lawrence belugas (Delphinapterus leucas) |
title_sort |
can you hear me? impacts of underwater noise on communication space of adult, sub-adult and calf contact calls of endangered st. lawrence belugas (delphinapterus leucas) |
publisher |
Norwegian Polar Institute |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.33265/polar.v40.5521 https://doaj.org/article/e7c072cfefe842b3a176e3edb468c35d |
geographic |
Canada |
geographic_facet |
Canada |
genre |
Beluga Beluga* Delphinapterus leucas Polar Research |
genre_facet |
Beluga Beluga* Delphinapterus leucas Polar Research |
op_source |
Polar Research, Vol 40, Pp 1-19 (2021) |
op_relation |
https://polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/5521/13733 https://doaj.org/toc/0800-0395 https://doaj.org/toc/1751-8369 0800-0395 1751-8369 doi:10.33265/polar.v40.5521 https://doaj.org/article/e7c072cfefe842b3a176e3edb468c35d |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.33265/polar.v40.5521 |
container_title |
Polar Research |
container_volume |
40 |
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1766374560216645632 |