Variation in fin whale songs recorded near Hawaii

• Main Author: McCourt, Laura
• Other Authors: Mellinger, David, Oregon State University. Undergraduate Research, Scholarship, and the Arts (URSA)
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: English; unknown
• Published: Oregon State University
• Subjects: Fin whale
• Online Access: https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/concern/undergraduate_thesis_or_projects/g445ck32j

Marine mammals use acoustics for many life functions, including communication. Male fin whales produce a call around 20 Hz and the pattern of a series of calls can vary based on the individual, geographic region, and season. I examined the variation between songs in fin whales. A glider was deployed southwest of Honolulu, HI in December 2014. It recorded passive acoustic data in the ocean for four weeks. There were 33 days with fin whales detected in the recordings but only 22 days had calls of measurable quality. In the 11 days that did not have distinct calls there was either many hours with the glider turned off or the calls were interspersed with background noise that masked them. Using Raven Pro, I looked through the entire data set and graded songs based on the amplitude and ability to differentiate the call from ambient noise. I then marked individual calls and recorded the inter-pulse interval (IPI) in each of the quality song bouts. I used the timing information to further classify the song pattern and make comparisons to other studies. From the seven days that I collected data, the most common IPIs were between 25-33 seconds. The mean IPI was 36.0 seconds and the median IPI was 30.1 seconds. The consistent patterns measured match previous fin whale songs recorded near Hawaii in December 2002 and 2005.