A year in the acoustic world of bowhead whales in the Bering, Chukchi and Beaufort seas

Clark, Christopher W.; Berchok, Catherine L.; Blackwell, Susanna B.; Hannay, David; Jones, Joshua M.; Ponirakis, Dimitri; Stafford, Kathleen M.

doi:10.1016/j.pocean.2015.05.007

Cited by 33 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 44 publications

(69 reference statements)

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“…Harwood et al (2017) found similar core use areas for juvenile bowhead whales, but also found that juvenile bowhead whales spent quite a bit of time moving around Banks Island and identified a few core use areas farther north. One acoustic study (Clark et al 2015) recorded in August and September 2009 and 2010 near Tuktoyaktuk found the presence of bowhead whale calls nearly every day, which confirms that bowhead whales stay in the Canadian Beaufort Sea into September.…”

Section: Bowhead Whalesmentioning

confidence: 74%

“…Beluga whales are part of the eastern Beaufort Sea stock and spend their winters in the Bering Sea and their summers throughout the eastern Beaufort Sea (Richard et al 2001;Citta et al 2016). Both bowhead and beluga whales time their migration into the Beaufort Sea based on ice breakup (Clark et al 2015;Hornby et al 2016), typically migrating into the region in early spring. The western Canadian Arctic is an understudied area in the range of all four marine mammal species, particularly for studies documenting distribution and seasonal patterns, with a few sporadic studies using aerial surveys for bowhead (e.g., Harwood et al 2010) and beluga whales (e.g., Harwood et al 1996) and satellite telemetry studies for bowhead (e.g., Citta et al 2015;Harwood et al 2017) and beluga whales (e.g., Richard et al 2001;Hauser et al 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Continuous data on species presence are not possible for other survey methods, such as visual surveys, in the Arctic due to sea ice. Indeed, PAM has been used throughout other areas of Arctic North America for monitoring marine mammals, including the Bering Sea (Moore et al 2006;Munger et al 2008;Stafford et al 2010), western Beaufort Sea (Moore et al 2006;Hauser et al 2017a), Chukchi Sea (Delarue et al 2009;Blackwell et al 2012;Hannay et al 2013;Jones et al 2014;Clark et al 2015;Frouin-Mouy et al 2016), and Baffin Bay (FrouinMouy et al 2017;Marcoux et al 2017), and acoustic monitoring has even been used successfully as a tool for studying the distribution of seals under the ice in the winter (Calvert and Stirling 1985;Cleator and Stirling 1990;MacIntyre et al 2013;Jones et al 2014;Frouin-Mouy et al 2016). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Seasonal patterns in acoustic detections of marine mammals near Sachs Harbour, Northwest Territories

et al. 2017

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The Arctic is changing rapidly, leading to changes in habitat availability and increased anthropogenic disturbance. Information on the distribution of animals is needed as these changes occur. We examine seasonal presence of marine mammals in the western Canadian Arctic near Sachs Harbour, Northwest Territories, using passive acoustic monitoring between 2015 and 2016. We also examined the influence of environmental variables (ice concentration and distance, wind speed) on the presence of these species. Both bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) and beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas) arrived in late April, and belugas departed in mid-August, while bowheads departed in late October. Bearded seal (Erignathus barbatus) vocalizations began in October, peaked from April through June, and stopped in early July. Ringed seals (Pusa hispida) vocalized occasionally in all months, but were generally quiet. Whales migrated in as the ice broke up and migrated out before ice formed in the autumn. Bearded seals started vocalizing as ice formed and stopped once ice was almost gone. Given the importance of sea ice to the timing of migration of whales and vocalization by bearded seals, the trends that we present here may change in the future due to the increasing ice-free season caused by climate change. Our study therefore serves as a baseline with which to monitor future change.Key words: climate change, conservation, passive acoustic monitoring, sea ice.Résumé : L'Arctique change rapidement, menant à des changements dans la disponibilité des habitats et l'augmentation des perturbations anthropiques. Les informations sur la répartition des animaux sont nécessaires à mesure que ces changements surviennent. Nous examinons la présence saisonnière de mammifères marins dans l'ouest de l'Arctique canadien près du havre Sachs, dans les Territoires du Nord-Ouest, en faisant de la surveillance acoustique passive entre 2015 et 2016. Nous avons aussi examiné les effets des variables environnementales (la concentration et la distance de la glace, la vitesse des vents) sur la présence de ces espèces. Tant les baleines boréales (Balaena mysticetus) que les bélugas (Delphinapterus leucas) sont arrivés à la fin avril et les bélugas sont repartis à la miaoût, tandis que les baleines boréales sont reparties à la fin octobre. Les vocalisations de phoques barbus (Erignathus barbatus) ont commencé en octobre, ont atteint un niveau maximal d'avril à juin et se sont arrêtées début juillet. Bien qu'ils aient été généralement silencieux, les phoques annelés (Pusa hispida) ont vocalisé de temps à autre au cours de tous les mois. Les baleines ont migré dans la région lorsque la glace s'est dispersée et ont migré hors

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Section: Bowhead Whalesmentioning

confidence: 74%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Seasonal patterns in acoustic detections of marine mammals near Sachs Harbour, Northwest Territories

et al. 2017

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“…The underwater soundscape is a key habitat feature for marine mammals and many other marine animals (e.g., Ellison et al 2012;Williams et al 2014;Clark et al 2015). Marine mammals rely on the underwater acoustic environment for a variety of life functions, including basic communication, mating, finding food, and avoiding predators (Richardson et al 1995).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The soundscape will also vary greatly between seasons as all three components vary differentially between seasons. For example, in the Arctic, bearded seal (Erignathus barbatus Erxleben, 1777) and bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus Linnaeus, 1758) vocalizations can be major contributors to the soundscape during their breeding seasons (Clark et al 2015;Ahonen et al 2017;Stafford et al 2018), but bearded seals are generally much less vocal during the summer and autumn (MacIntyre et al 2013;Jones et al 2014;Halliday et al 2018a), and bowhead whales switch from singing during the winter to moaning for the rest of the year (Clark et al 2015;Ahonen et al 2017;Halliday et al 2018a).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The summer soundscape of a shallow-water estuary used by beluga whales in the western Canadian Arctic

et al. 2020

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The soundscape is an important habitat component for marine animals. In the Arctic, marine conditions are changing rapidly due to sea ice loss and increased anthropogenic activities such as shipping, which will influence the soundscape. Here, we assess the contributors to the summer soundscape in the shallow waters of the Mackenzie River estuary within the Tarium Niryutait Marine Protected Area in the western Canadian Arctic, a core summering habitat for beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas Pallas, 1776). We collected passive acoustic data during the summer over four years, and assessed the influence of physical variables, beluga whale vocalizations, and boat noise on sound pressure levels in three frequency bands (low: 0.2-1 kHz; medium: 1-10 kHz; high: 10-48 kHz) to quantify the soundscape. Wind speed, wave height, beluga vocalizations, and boat noise were all large contributors to the soundscape in various frequency bands. The soundscape varied to a lesser degree between sites, time of day, and with tide height, but remained relatively constant between years. This study is the first detailed description of a shallow summer soundscape in the western Canadian Arctic, an important habitat for beluga whales, and can be used as a baseline to monitor future changes during this season.

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Biodiversity Assessment and Environmental Monitoring in Freshwater and Marine Biomes using Ecoacoustics

Risch

Parks

2017

Ecoacoustics

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A year in the acoustic world of bowhead whales in the Bering, Chukchi and Beaufort seas

Cited by 33 publications

References 44 publications

Seasonal patterns in acoustic detections of marine mammals near Sachs Harbour, Northwest Territories

Seasonal patterns in acoustic detections of marine mammals near Sachs Harbour, Northwest Territories

The summer soundscape of a shallow-water estuary used by beluga whales in the western Canadian Arctic

Biodiversity Assessment and Environmental Monitoring in Freshwater and Marine Biomes using Ecoacoustics

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