Naval sonar disrupts foraging behaviour in humpback whales
Modern long-range naval sonars are a potential disturbance for marine mammals and can cause disruption of feeding in cetaceans. We examined the lunge-feeding behaviour of humpback whales Megaptera novaeangliae before, during and after controlled exposure experiments with naval sonar by use of acoust...
Published in: | Marine Ecology Progress Series |
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Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
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2016
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Online Access: | https://research-portal.st-andrews.ac.uk/en/publications/c9f7ddcf-1414-404b-b2ba-982ca3acfad9 https://doi.org/10.3354/meps11969 https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/bitstream/10023/12394/1/Sivle_2016_Naval_MEPS_AAM.pdf |
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ftunstandrewcris:oai:research-portal.st-andrews.ac.uk:publications/c9f7ddcf-1414-404b-b2ba-982ca3acfad9 2024-10-13T14:07:56+00:00 Naval sonar disrupts foraging behaviour in humpback whales Sivle, Lise D. Wensveen, Paulus Jacobus Kvadsheim, Petter Lam, Frans-Peter A. Visser, Fleur Cure, Charlotte Harris, Catriona M Tyack, Peter Lloyd Miller, Patrick 2016-12-29 application/pdf https://research-portal.st-andrews.ac.uk/en/publications/c9f7ddcf-1414-404b-b2ba-982ca3acfad9 https://doi.org/10.3354/meps11969 https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/bitstream/10023/12394/1/Sivle_2016_Naval_MEPS_AAM.pdf eng eng https://research-portal.st-andrews.ac.uk/en/publications/c9f7ddcf-1414-404b-b2ba-982ca3acfad9 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Sivle , L D , Wensveen , P J , Kvadsheim , P , Lam , F-P A , Visser , F , Cure , C , Harris , C M , Tyack , P L & Miller , P 2016 , ' Naval sonar disrupts foraging behaviour in humpback whales ' , Marine Ecology Progress Series , vol. 562 , pp. 211-220 . https://doi.org/10.3354/meps11969 Humpback whale Megaptera novaeangliae Naval sonar Behavioral response Lung feeding article 2016 ftunstandrewcris https://doi.org/10.3354/meps11969 2024-09-18T23:42:20Z Modern long-range naval sonars are a potential disturbance for marine mammals and can cause disruption of feeding in cetaceans. We examined the lunge-feeding behaviour of humpback whales Megaptera novaeangliae before, during and after controlled exposure experiments with naval sonar by use of acoustic and motion sensor archival tags attached to each animal. Lunge-feeding by humpback whales entails a strong acceleration to increase speed before engulfing a large volume of prey-laden water, which can be identified by an acoustic signature characterized by a few seconds of high-level flow-noise followed by a rapid reduction, coinciding with a peak in animal acceleration. Over 2 successive seasons, 13 humpback whales were tagged. All were subject to a no-sonar control exposure, and 12 whales were exposed to 2 consecutive sonar exposure sessions, with 1 h between sessions. The first sonar session resulted in an average 68% reduction in lunge rate during exposure compared to pre-exposure, and this reduction was significantly greater than any changes observed during the no-sonar control. During the second sonar session, reduction in lunge rate was 66% during sonar exposure compared to the pre-exposure level, but was not significant compared to the no-sonar control, likely due to a larger inter-individual variability because some individuals appeared to have habituated whereas others had not. Our results indicate that naval sonars operating near humpback whale feeding grounds may lead to reduced foraging and negative impacts on energy balance. Article in Journal/Newspaper Humpback Whale Megaptera novaeangliae University of St Andrews: Research Portal Marine Ecology Progress Series 562 211 220 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of St Andrews: Research Portal |
op_collection_id |
ftunstandrewcris |
language |
English |
topic |
Humpback whale Megaptera novaeangliae Naval sonar Behavioral response Lung feeding |
spellingShingle |
Humpback whale Megaptera novaeangliae Naval sonar Behavioral response Lung feeding Sivle, Lise D. Wensveen, Paulus Jacobus Kvadsheim, Petter Lam, Frans-Peter A. Visser, Fleur Cure, Charlotte Harris, Catriona M Tyack, Peter Lloyd Miller, Patrick Naval sonar disrupts foraging behaviour in humpback whales |
topic_facet |
Humpback whale Megaptera novaeangliae Naval sonar Behavioral response Lung feeding |
description |
Modern long-range naval sonars are a potential disturbance for marine mammals and can cause disruption of feeding in cetaceans. We examined the lunge-feeding behaviour of humpback whales Megaptera novaeangliae before, during and after controlled exposure experiments with naval sonar by use of acoustic and motion sensor archival tags attached to each animal. Lunge-feeding by humpback whales entails a strong acceleration to increase speed before engulfing a large volume of prey-laden water, which can be identified by an acoustic signature characterized by a few seconds of high-level flow-noise followed by a rapid reduction, coinciding with a peak in animal acceleration. Over 2 successive seasons, 13 humpback whales were tagged. All were subject to a no-sonar control exposure, and 12 whales were exposed to 2 consecutive sonar exposure sessions, with 1 h between sessions. The first sonar session resulted in an average 68% reduction in lunge rate during exposure compared to pre-exposure, and this reduction was significantly greater than any changes observed during the no-sonar control. During the second sonar session, reduction in lunge rate was 66% during sonar exposure compared to the pre-exposure level, but was not significant compared to the no-sonar control, likely due to a larger inter-individual variability because some individuals appeared to have habituated whereas others had not. Our results indicate that naval sonars operating near humpback whale feeding grounds may lead to reduced foraging and negative impacts on energy balance. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Sivle, Lise D. Wensveen, Paulus Jacobus Kvadsheim, Petter Lam, Frans-Peter A. Visser, Fleur Cure, Charlotte Harris, Catriona M Tyack, Peter Lloyd Miller, Patrick |
author_facet |
Sivle, Lise D. Wensveen, Paulus Jacobus Kvadsheim, Petter Lam, Frans-Peter A. Visser, Fleur Cure, Charlotte Harris, Catriona M Tyack, Peter Lloyd Miller, Patrick |
author_sort |
Sivle, Lise D. |
title |
Naval sonar disrupts foraging behaviour in humpback whales |
title_short |
Naval sonar disrupts foraging behaviour in humpback whales |
title_full |
Naval sonar disrupts foraging behaviour in humpback whales |
title_fullStr |
Naval sonar disrupts foraging behaviour in humpback whales |
title_full_unstemmed |
Naval sonar disrupts foraging behaviour in humpback whales |
title_sort |
naval sonar disrupts foraging behaviour in humpback whales |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
https://research-portal.st-andrews.ac.uk/en/publications/c9f7ddcf-1414-404b-b2ba-982ca3acfad9 https://doi.org/10.3354/meps11969 https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/bitstream/10023/12394/1/Sivle_2016_Naval_MEPS_AAM.pdf |
genre |
Humpback Whale Megaptera novaeangliae |
genre_facet |
Humpback Whale Megaptera novaeangliae |
op_source |
Sivle , L D , Wensveen , P J , Kvadsheim , P , Lam , F-P A , Visser , F , Cure , C , Harris , C M , Tyack , P L & Miller , P 2016 , ' Naval sonar disrupts foraging behaviour in humpback whales ' , Marine Ecology Progress Series , vol. 562 , pp. 211-220 . https://doi.org/10.3354/meps11969 |
op_relation |
https://research-portal.st-andrews.ac.uk/en/publications/c9f7ddcf-1414-404b-b2ba-982ca3acfad9 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3354/meps11969 |
container_title |
Marine Ecology Progress Series |
container_volume |
562 |
container_start_page |
211 |
op_container_end_page |
220 |
_version_ |
1812814494605246464 |