Interactions Among Behavioral Responses of Baleen Whales to Acoustic Stimuli, Oceanographic Features, and Prey Availability

The overall objectives of this multi-year study are to obtain empirical synoptic measurements of fine-scale prey distribution and whale diving and foraging behavior to better understand baleen whale foraging ecology and better interpret responses to experimental sound exposure. The current project h...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Friedlaender, Ari S, Southall, Brandon L, Hazen, Elliott L
Other Authors: SOUTHALL ENVIRONMENTAL ASSOCIATES INC APTOS CA
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: 2013
Subjects:
Biology
Anatomy and Physiology
Ecology
Acoustics
*BEHAVIOR
*DIVING
*EXPOSURE(PHYSIOLOGY)
*FEEDING
*PHYSIOLOGICAL EFFECTS
*UNDERWATER ACOUSTICS
*UNDERWATER SOUND
*WHALES
CALIFORNIA
CETACEA
COASTAL REGIONS
MEASUREMENT
PLANKTON
RESPONSE(BIOLOGY)
SONAR
*BALEEN WHALES
*SOUND EXPOSURE
*FORAGING BEHAVIOR
*PREY DISTRIBUTION
*PREY ABUNDANCE
PREY DENSITY
HUMAN SOUNDS
ANTHROPOGENIC SOUNDS
MILITARY SONAR
DIVING BEHAVIOR
KRILL
CONTROLLED EXPOSURE EXPERIMENTS
baleen whale
baleen whales
Online Access:http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA599982
http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA599982
Description
Summary:The overall objectives of this multi-year study are to obtain empirical synoptic measurements of fine-scale prey distribution and whale diving and foraging behavior to better understand baleen whale foraging ecology and better interpret responses to experimental sound exposure. The current project has already enabled us to obtain basic distribution and density information for prey concurrent with foraging mysticete cetaceans during tagging with fine-scale movement sensors in the context of behavioral response studies (specifically, the Southern California Behavioral Response Study, or SOCAL-BRS). The new results presented here clearly and quite powerfully demonstrate that data on the distribution and abundance of prey are essential in fully understanding how changes in whale behavior related to the presence of human sounds are mediated by these factors and associated environmental variables. Subsequent CEEs involving potential behavioral changes in foraging marine mammals should build on these novel techniques and measurements to fully describe potential responses (or lack thereof) to sound exposure. Sponsored in part by MIPR-N0001413IP20034 and MIPR-N0001412IP20071.

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