Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) Song on a Subarctic Feeding Ground
Male humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) are known to produce long complex sequences of structured vocalizations called song. Singing behavior has traditionally been associated with low latitude breeding grounds but is increasingly reported outside these areas. This study provides the first rep...
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Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10037/22090 https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.669748 |
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ftunivtroemsoe:oai:munin.uit.no:10037/22090 2023-05-15T16:35:50+02:00 Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) Song on a Subarctic Feeding Ground Martin, Saskia C. Aniceto, Ana Sofia Ahonen, Heidi Pedersen, Geir Lindstrøm, Ulf 2021-05-24 https://hdl.handle.net/10037/22090 https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.669748 eng eng Frontiers Media Frontiers in Marine Science Norges forskningsråd: 245843 info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/RCN/FORINFRA/245843/Norway/Lofoten-Vesterålen cabled observatory// Martin, Aniceto AS, Ahonen, Pedersen G, Lindstrøm. Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) Song on a Subarctic Feeding Ground. Frontiers in Marine Science. 2021;8 FRIDAID 1923107 doi:10.3389/fmars.2021.669748 2296-7745 https://hdl.handle.net/10037/22090 openAccess Copyright 2021 The Author(s) VDP::Mathematics and natural science: 400::Zoology and botany: 480 VDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400::Zoologiske og botaniske fag: 480 Journal article Tidsskriftartikkel Peer reviewed publishedVersion 2021 ftunivtroemsoe https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.669748 2021-08-18T22:53:41Z Male humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) are known to produce long complex sequences of structured vocalizations called song. Singing behavior has traditionally been associated with low latitude breeding grounds but is increasingly reported outside these areas. This study provides the first report of humpback whale songs in the subarctic waters of Northern Norway using a long-term bottom-moored hydrophone. Data processed included the months January–June 2018 and December 2018–January 2019. Out of 189 days with recordings, humpback whale singing was heard on 79 days. Singing was first detected beginning of January 2018 with a peak in February and was heard until mid-April. No singing activity was found during the summer months and was heard again in December 2018, continuing over January 2019. A total of 131 song sessions, including 35 full sessions, were identified throughout the study period. The longest and shortest complete sessions lasted 815 and 13 min, respectively. The results confirm that singing can be heard over several months in winter and spring on a high latitude feeding ground. This provides additional evidence to the growing literature that singing is not an explicit behavior confined to low latitude breeding grounds. The peak of song occurrence in February appears to coincide with the reproductive cycle of humpback whales. Finally, this study indicates that song occurrence on a subarctic feeding ground likely aids the cultural transmission for the North Atlantic humpback whale population. Article in Journal/Newspaper Humpback Whale Megaptera novaeangliae North Atlantic Northern Norway Subarctic University of Tromsø: Munin Open Research Archive Norway Frontiers in Marine Science 8 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Tromsø: Munin Open Research Archive |
op_collection_id |
ftunivtroemsoe |
language |
English |
topic |
VDP::Mathematics and natural science: 400::Zoology and botany: 480 VDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400::Zoologiske og botaniske fag: 480 |
spellingShingle |
VDP::Mathematics and natural science: 400::Zoology and botany: 480 VDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400::Zoologiske og botaniske fag: 480 Martin, Saskia C. Aniceto, Ana Sofia Ahonen, Heidi Pedersen, Geir Lindstrøm, Ulf Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) Song on a Subarctic Feeding Ground |
topic_facet |
VDP::Mathematics and natural science: 400::Zoology and botany: 480 VDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400::Zoologiske og botaniske fag: 480 |
description |
Male humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) are known to produce long complex sequences of structured vocalizations called song. Singing behavior has traditionally been associated with low latitude breeding grounds but is increasingly reported outside these areas. This study provides the first report of humpback whale songs in the subarctic waters of Northern Norway using a long-term bottom-moored hydrophone. Data processed included the months January–June 2018 and December 2018–January 2019. Out of 189 days with recordings, humpback whale singing was heard on 79 days. Singing was first detected beginning of January 2018 with a peak in February and was heard until mid-April. No singing activity was found during the summer months and was heard again in December 2018, continuing over January 2019. A total of 131 song sessions, including 35 full sessions, were identified throughout the study period. The longest and shortest complete sessions lasted 815 and 13 min, respectively. The results confirm that singing can be heard over several months in winter and spring on a high latitude feeding ground. This provides additional evidence to the growing literature that singing is not an explicit behavior confined to low latitude breeding grounds. The peak of song occurrence in February appears to coincide with the reproductive cycle of humpback whales. Finally, this study indicates that song occurrence on a subarctic feeding ground likely aids the cultural transmission for the North Atlantic humpback whale population. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Martin, Saskia C. Aniceto, Ana Sofia Ahonen, Heidi Pedersen, Geir Lindstrøm, Ulf |
author_facet |
Martin, Saskia C. Aniceto, Ana Sofia Ahonen, Heidi Pedersen, Geir Lindstrøm, Ulf |
author_sort |
Martin, Saskia C. |
title |
Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) Song on a Subarctic Feeding Ground |
title_short |
Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) Song on a Subarctic Feeding Ground |
title_full |
Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) Song on a Subarctic Feeding Ground |
title_fullStr |
Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) Song on a Subarctic Feeding Ground |
title_full_unstemmed |
Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) Song on a Subarctic Feeding Ground |
title_sort |
humpback whale (megaptera novaeangliae) song on a subarctic feeding ground |
publisher |
Frontiers Media |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/10037/22090 https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.669748 |
geographic |
Norway |
geographic_facet |
Norway |
genre |
Humpback Whale Megaptera novaeangliae North Atlantic Northern Norway Subarctic |
genre_facet |
Humpback Whale Megaptera novaeangliae North Atlantic Northern Norway Subarctic |
op_relation |
Frontiers in Marine Science Norges forskningsråd: 245843 info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/RCN/FORINFRA/245843/Norway/Lofoten-Vesterålen cabled observatory// Martin, Aniceto AS, Ahonen, Pedersen G, Lindstrøm. Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) Song on a Subarctic Feeding Ground. Frontiers in Marine Science. 2021;8 FRIDAID 1923107 doi:10.3389/fmars.2021.669748 2296-7745 https://hdl.handle.net/10037/22090 |
op_rights |
openAccess Copyright 2021 The Author(s) |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.669748 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Marine Science |
container_volume |
8 |
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1766026137021972480 |