Effects of Airgun Sounds on Bowhead Whale Calling Rates: Evidence for Two Behavioral Thresholds
In proximity to seismic operations, bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) decrease their calling rates. Here, we investigate the transition from normal calling behavior to decreased calling and identify two threshold levels of received sound from airgun pulses at which calling behavior changes. Data w...
Published in: | PLOS ONE |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
Format: | Text |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Public Library of Science
2015
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4454580/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26039218 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0125720 |
id |
ftpubmed:oai:pubmedcentral.nih.gov:4454580 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftpubmed:oai:pubmedcentral.nih.gov:4454580 2023-05-15T15:36:00+02:00 Effects of Airgun Sounds on Bowhead Whale Calling Rates: Evidence for Two Behavioral Thresholds Blackwell, Susanna B. Nations, Christopher S. McDonald, Trent L. Thode, Aaron M. Mathias, Delphine Kim, Katherine H. Greene, Charles R. Macrander, A. Michael 2015-06-03 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4454580/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26039218 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0125720 en eng Public Library of Science http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4454580/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26039218 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0125720 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited CC-BY Research Article Text 2015 ftpubmed https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0125720 2015-06-14T00:10:16Z In proximity to seismic operations, bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) decrease their calling rates. Here, we investigate the transition from normal calling behavior to decreased calling and identify two threshold levels of received sound from airgun pulses at which calling behavior changes. Data were collected in August–October 2007–2010, during the westward autumn migration in the Alaskan Beaufort Sea. Up to 40 directional acoustic recorders (DASARs) were deployed at five sites offshore of the Alaskan North Slope. Using triangulation, whale calls localized within 2 km of each DASAR were identified and tallied every 10 minutes each season, so that the detected call rate could be interpreted as the actual call production rate. Moreover, airgun pulses were identified on each DASAR, analyzed, and a cumulative sound exposure level was computed for each 10-min period each season (CSEL10-min). A Poisson regression model was used to examine the relationship between the received CSEL10-min from airguns and the number of detected bowhead calls. Calling rates increased as soon as airgun pulses were detectable, compared to calling rates in the absence of airgun pulses. After the initial increase, calling rates leveled off at a received CSEL10-min of ~94 dB re 1 μPa2-s (the lower threshold). In contrast, once CSEL10-min exceeded ~127 dB re 1 μPa2-s (the upper threshold), whale calling rates began decreasing, and when CSEL10-min values were above ~160 dB re 1 μPa2-s, the whales were virtually silent. Text Balaena mysticetus Beaufort Sea bowhead whale PubMed Central (PMC) PLOS ONE 10 6 e0125720 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
PubMed Central (PMC) |
op_collection_id |
ftpubmed |
language |
English |
topic |
Research Article |
spellingShingle |
Research Article Blackwell, Susanna B. Nations, Christopher S. McDonald, Trent L. Thode, Aaron M. Mathias, Delphine Kim, Katherine H. Greene, Charles R. Macrander, A. Michael Effects of Airgun Sounds on Bowhead Whale Calling Rates: Evidence for Two Behavioral Thresholds |
topic_facet |
Research Article |
description |
In proximity to seismic operations, bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) decrease their calling rates. Here, we investigate the transition from normal calling behavior to decreased calling and identify two threshold levels of received sound from airgun pulses at which calling behavior changes. Data were collected in August–October 2007–2010, during the westward autumn migration in the Alaskan Beaufort Sea. Up to 40 directional acoustic recorders (DASARs) were deployed at five sites offshore of the Alaskan North Slope. Using triangulation, whale calls localized within 2 km of each DASAR were identified and tallied every 10 minutes each season, so that the detected call rate could be interpreted as the actual call production rate. Moreover, airgun pulses were identified on each DASAR, analyzed, and a cumulative sound exposure level was computed for each 10-min period each season (CSEL10-min). A Poisson regression model was used to examine the relationship between the received CSEL10-min from airguns and the number of detected bowhead calls. Calling rates increased as soon as airgun pulses were detectable, compared to calling rates in the absence of airgun pulses. After the initial increase, calling rates leveled off at a received CSEL10-min of ~94 dB re 1 μPa2-s (the lower threshold). In contrast, once CSEL10-min exceeded ~127 dB re 1 μPa2-s (the upper threshold), whale calling rates began decreasing, and when CSEL10-min values were above ~160 dB re 1 μPa2-s, the whales were virtually silent. |
format |
Text |
author |
Blackwell, Susanna B. Nations, Christopher S. McDonald, Trent L. Thode, Aaron M. Mathias, Delphine Kim, Katherine H. Greene, Charles R. Macrander, A. Michael |
author_facet |
Blackwell, Susanna B. Nations, Christopher S. McDonald, Trent L. Thode, Aaron M. Mathias, Delphine Kim, Katherine H. Greene, Charles R. Macrander, A. Michael |
author_sort |
Blackwell, Susanna B. |
title |
Effects of Airgun Sounds on Bowhead Whale Calling Rates: Evidence for Two Behavioral Thresholds |
title_short |
Effects of Airgun Sounds on Bowhead Whale Calling Rates: Evidence for Two Behavioral Thresholds |
title_full |
Effects of Airgun Sounds on Bowhead Whale Calling Rates: Evidence for Two Behavioral Thresholds |
title_fullStr |
Effects of Airgun Sounds on Bowhead Whale Calling Rates: Evidence for Two Behavioral Thresholds |
title_full_unstemmed |
Effects of Airgun Sounds on Bowhead Whale Calling Rates: Evidence for Two Behavioral Thresholds |
title_sort |
effects of airgun sounds on bowhead whale calling rates: evidence for two behavioral thresholds |
publisher |
Public Library of Science |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4454580/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26039218 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0125720 |
genre |
Balaena mysticetus Beaufort Sea bowhead whale |
genre_facet |
Balaena mysticetus Beaufort Sea bowhead whale |
op_relation |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4454580/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26039218 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0125720 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0125720 |
container_title |
PLOS ONE |
container_volume |
10 |
container_issue |
6 |
container_start_page |
e0125720 |
_version_ |
1766366336204668928 |