Ecology of Beaked Whales and Sperm Whales in the Western North Atlantic Ocean: Insights from Passive Acoustic Monitoring
Beaked whales (family Ziphiidae) and sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) are apex marine predators found throughout the world’s deep oceans. These species are challenging to observe, and little is known about fundamental aspects of their ecology, including their spatiotemporal distributions and ha...
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ftdukeunivdsp:oai:localhost:10161/14525 2023-11-12T04:18:21+01:00 Ecology of Beaked Whales and Sperm Whales in the Western North Atlantic Ocean: Insights from Passive Acoustic Monitoring Stanistreet, Joy Elia Nowacek, Douglas P Read, Andrew J 2017 application/pdf https://hdl.handle.net/10161/14525 unknown https://hdl.handle.net/10161/14525 Ecology Beaked whale Cetacean Passive acoustic monitoring Seasonality Species distributions Sperm whale Dissertation 2017 ftdukeunivdsp 2023-10-17T09:44:46Z Beaked whales (family Ziphiidae) and sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) are apex marine predators found throughout the world’s deep oceans. These species are challenging to observe, and little is known about fundamental aspects of their ecology, including their spatiotemporal distributions and habitat use. Passive acoustic monitoring (PAM), can be used to detect their echolocation clicks during foraging dives, thereby providing an indication of species presence. My dissertation investigates the distribution, seasonal occurrence, and diel variability in acoustic detections of beaked whales and sperm whales in the western North Atlantic Ocean, using multi-year passive acoustic recordings collected along the continental slope between Florida and Nova Scotia. First, I describe spatiotemporal patterns in detections of beaked whale echolocation clicks from five beaked whale species and one signal type of unknown origin. At least two beaked whale click types were detected at each recording site, and detections occurred year-round, with site-specific variation in relative species occurrence. Notably, Cuvier’s beaked whales (Ziphius cavirostris) were regularly detected in a region where they have not been commonly observed, and potential habitat partitioning among Cuvier’s and Gervais’ (Mesoplodon europaeus) beaked whales was apparent within their overlapping ranges. To examine the potential effects of using duty-cycled recording schedules on the detection of beaked whale clicks, I performed a subsampling experiment, and found that short, frequent listening periods were most effective for assessing daily presence of beaked whales. Furthermore, subsampling at low duty cycles led to consistently greater underestimation of Mesoplodon species than either Cuvier’s beaked whales or northern bottlenose whales (Hyperoodon ampullatus), leading to a potential bias in estimation of relative species occurrence. Next, I examine the occurrence of sperm whale echolocation clicks, which were recorded commonly between southern New ... Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis hyperoodon ampullatus North Atlantic Physeter macrocephalus Sperm whale Duke University Libraries: DukeSpace |
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Duke University Libraries: DukeSpace |
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topic |
Ecology Beaked whale Cetacean Passive acoustic monitoring Seasonality Species distributions Sperm whale |
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Ecology Beaked whale Cetacean Passive acoustic monitoring Seasonality Species distributions Sperm whale Stanistreet, Joy Elia Ecology of Beaked Whales and Sperm Whales in the Western North Atlantic Ocean: Insights from Passive Acoustic Monitoring |
topic_facet |
Ecology Beaked whale Cetacean Passive acoustic monitoring Seasonality Species distributions Sperm whale |
description |
Beaked whales (family Ziphiidae) and sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) are apex marine predators found throughout the world’s deep oceans. These species are challenging to observe, and little is known about fundamental aspects of their ecology, including their spatiotemporal distributions and habitat use. Passive acoustic monitoring (PAM), can be used to detect their echolocation clicks during foraging dives, thereby providing an indication of species presence. My dissertation investigates the distribution, seasonal occurrence, and diel variability in acoustic detections of beaked whales and sperm whales in the western North Atlantic Ocean, using multi-year passive acoustic recordings collected along the continental slope between Florida and Nova Scotia. First, I describe spatiotemporal patterns in detections of beaked whale echolocation clicks from five beaked whale species and one signal type of unknown origin. At least two beaked whale click types were detected at each recording site, and detections occurred year-round, with site-specific variation in relative species occurrence. Notably, Cuvier’s beaked whales (Ziphius cavirostris) were regularly detected in a region where they have not been commonly observed, and potential habitat partitioning among Cuvier’s and Gervais’ (Mesoplodon europaeus) beaked whales was apparent within their overlapping ranges. To examine the potential effects of using duty-cycled recording schedules on the detection of beaked whale clicks, I performed a subsampling experiment, and found that short, frequent listening periods were most effective for assessing daily presence of beaked whales. Furthermore, subsampling at low duty cycles led to consistently greater underestimation of Mesoplodon species than either Cuvier’s beaked whales or northern bottlenose whales (Hyperoodon ampullatus), leading to a potential bias in estimation of relative species occurrence. Next, I examine the occurrence of sperm whale echolocation clicks, which were recorded commonly between southern New ... |
author2 |
Nowacek, Douglas P Read, Andrew J |
format |
Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis |
author |
Stanistreet, Joy Elia |
author_facet |
Stanistreet, Joy Elia |
author_sort |
Stanistreet, Joy Elia |
title |
Ecology of Beaked Whales and Sperm Whales in the Western North Atlantic Ocean: Insights from Passive Acoustic Monitoring |
title_short |
Ecology of Beaked Whales and Sperm Whales in the Western North Atlantic Ocean: Insights from Passive Acoustic Monitoring |
title_full |
Ecology of Beaked Whales and Sperm Whales in the Western North Atlantic Ocean: Insights from Passive Acoustic Monitoring |
title_fullStr |
Ecology of Beaked Whales and Sperm Whales in the Western North Atlantic Ocean: Insights from Passive Acoustic Monitoring |
title_full_unstemmed |
Ecology of Beaked Whales and Sperm Whales in the Western North Atlantic Ocean: Insights from Passive Acoustic Monitoring |
title_sort |
ecology of beaked whales and sperm whales in the western north atlantic ocean: insights from passive acoustic monitoring |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/10161/14525 |
genre |
hyperoodon ampullatus North Atlantic Physeter macrocephalus Sperm whale |
genre_facet |
hyperoodon ampullatus North Atlantic Physeter macrocephalus Sperm whale |
op_relation |
https://hdl.handle.net/10161/14525 |
_version_ |
1782334985533915136 |