Fin Whale Song Patterns Shift Over Time in the Central North Pacific

Helble, Tyler A.; Guazzo, Regina A.; Alongi, Gabriela C.; Martin, Cameron R.; Martin, Stephen; Henderson, E. Elizabeth

doi:10.3389/fmars.2020.587110

Cited by 911 publications

(70 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…Fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus) song has been recorded in every ocean basin, but little is known about fin whale swimming behavior while they are singing. This song is made up of two different note types (referred to here as A and B notes) that are repeated in regular inter-note intervals (INIs) (e.g., Watkins, 1981; Thompson et al, 1992;Delarue et al, 2013;Širović et al, 2017;Helble et al, 2020). The notes, which are sometimes called 20 Hz pulses, are downswept with frequencies ranging from ∼42 to 15 Hz and a duration of 1 s (Watkins et al, 1987;Thompson et al, 1992;Nieukirk et al, 2004).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Singing Fin Whale Swimming Behavior in the Central North Pacific

et al. 2021

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Male fin whales sing using 20 Hz pulses produced in regular patterns of inter-note intervals, but little is known about fin whale swimming behavior while they are singing. Even less is known about fin whales in Hawaiian waters because they have rarely been sighted during surveys and passive acoustic monitoring has been limited to sparse hydrophone systems that do not have localization capabilities. We hypothesized that fin whale kinematics may be related to their singing behavior, or external variables such as time and sea state. To investigate this hypothesis, we analyzed 115 tracks containing 50,034 unique notes generated from passive acoustic recordings on an array of 14 hydrophones from 2011 to 2017 at the U.S. Navy Pacific Missile Range Facility off Kauai, Hawaii. Fin whales swam at an average speed of 1.1 m/s over relatively direct paths. We incorporated the whales' speed and turning angle into hidden Markov models to identify different behavioral states based on the whales' movements. We found that fin whale kinematic behavioral state was related to the vocalization rate (also known as cue rate) and time of day. When cue rate was higher, fin whales were more likely to swim slower and turn more than when cue rate was lower. During the night, fin whales were also more likely to swim slower and turn more than during the day. In addition, we examined whether the presence of singing fin whales was related to time and sea state using generalized additive models. Fin whale track presence was affected by day of the year and song season, and possibly also wind speed and wave height. Although the track kinematics from the fin whale tracks presented here are limited to a subset of whales that are acoustically active, they provide some of the only detailed movements of fin whales in the region and can be compared against fin whale swim speeds in other regions. Understanding how fin whale swimming behavior varies based on their vocalization patterns, time, and environmental factors will help us to contextualize potential changes in whale behavior during Navy training and testing on the range.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Singing Fin Whale Swimming Behavior in the Central North Pacific

et al. 2021

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“…Blue whale song includes three call types: A calls-pulse-trains centered near 80 Hz, B calls-the loudest calls produced with fundamental frequency centered near 14.5 Hz and harmonics centered near 29, 43.5, and 58 Hz, and C calls-the subtlest of the three, centered near 11 Hz. Fin whale song is the simplest, consisting of brief (∼ 1 s) pulses that are modulated in frequency and variably paired in singlets, doublets, and triplets (Helble et al, 2020). Baleen whale song occurrence within the foraging habitat of MBNMS spans 7-9 months of the year, depending on the species (Ryan et al, 2019;Oestreich et al, 2020).…”

Section: Acoustic Data and Analysesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reduction of Low-Frequency Vessel Noise in Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary During the COVID-19 Pandemic

et al. 2021

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Low-frequency sound from large vessels is a major, global source of ocean noise that can interfere with acoustic communication for a variety of marine animals. Changes in vessel activity provide opportunities to quantify relationships between vessel traffic levels and soundscape conditions in biologically important habitats. Using continuous deep-sea (890 m) recordings acquired ∼20 km (closest point of approach) from offshore shipping lanes, we observed reduction of low-frequency noise within Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary (California, United States) associated with changes in vessel traffic during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Acoustic modeling shows that the recording site receives low-frequency vessel noise primarily from the regional shipping lanes rather than via the Sound Fixing and Ranging (SOFAR) channel. Monthly geometric means and percentiles of spectrum levels in the one-third octave band centered at 63 Hz during 2020 were compared with those from the same months of 2018–2019. Spectrum levels were persistently and significantly lower during February through July 2020, although a partial rebound in ambient noise levels was indicated by July. Mean spectrum levels during 2020 were more than 1 dB re 1 μPa2 Hz–1 below those of a previous year during 4 months. The lowest spectrum levels, in June 2020, were as much as 1.9 (mean) and 2.4 (25% exceedance level) dB re 1 μPa2 Hz–1 below levels of previous years. Spectrum levels during 2020 were significantly correlated with large-vessel total gross tonnage derived from economic data, summed across all California ports (r = 0.81, p < 0.05; adjusted r2 = 0.58). They were more highly correlated with regional presence of large vessels, quantified from Automatic Identification System (AIS) vessel tracking data weighted according to vessel speed and modeled acoustic transmission loss (r = 0.92, p < 0.01; adjusted r2 = 0.81). Within the 3-year study period, February–June 2020 exhibited persistently quiet low-frequency noise and anomalously low statewide port activity and regional large-vessel presence. The results illustrate the ephemeral nature of noise pollution by documenting how it responds rapidly to changes in offshore large-vessel traffic, and how this anthropogenic imprint reaches habitat remote from major ports and shipping lanes.

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“…However, researchers have discovered that, unlike blue whale songs whose characteristics remain relatively constant, fin whale song characteristics change across years and within seasons [29,31] making 'acoustic populations' for fin whale more difficult to differentiate than for blue whale [32]. Individual fin whales have also been observed to abruptly switch song type, complicating correlations between song types and 'acoustic populations' [33]. Fin whale 'doublet' calls have been described in New Zealand waters June through September.…”

Section: Plos Onementioning

confidence: 99%

Fin whale acoustic populations present in New Zealand waters: Description of song types, occurrence and seasonality using passive acoustic monitoring

et al. 2021

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Southern fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus) are known to migrate from the Antarctic to mid-latitudes during winter for breeding, but the occurrence and distribution of this species is not well known in the waters around New Zealand. The ‘doublet’ calls are one of the main calls emitted specifically by fin whales and repeated in a regular pattern, which make the acoustic detection of these calls relevant to detect the presence of fin whales. Using a signal processing algorithm to detect ‘doublet’ calls emitted by fin whales, we studied the occurrence, characteristics and seasonality of these ‘doublet’ calls in two regions around New Zealand; Cook Strait in 2016/2017 and offshore Gisborne in 2014/2015. The call detection procedure consisted of binarization of the spectrogram and a cross-correlation between the binarized spectrogram and a template of binarized ‘doublet’ calls spectrogram. A binarization threshold for the data spectrograms and a cross correlation threshold were then determined through multiple trials on a training dataset and a Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC) curve. Fin whale ‘doublet’ calls occurred on the east side of New Zealand’s Cook Strait during austral winter, specifically in June 2017 and offshore Gisborne in June-August 2014. No ‘doublet’ calls were detected on the west side of Cook Strait. The ‘doublet’ calls’ Inter-Note Interval (INI) was similar in both datasets. However, there was a difference in alternation of the mean frequency for both HF components of ‘doublet’ calls in Cook Strait and Gisborne. As the song types were compared with those previously described in the literature, our findings suggest that some fin whales wintering in New Zealand waters may be part of a broader ‘acoustic population’ whose range extends west to southern Australia and south to Antarctica.

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Fin Whale Song Patterns Shift Over Time in the Central North Pacific

Cited by 911 publications

References 37 publications

Singing Fin Whale Swimming Behavior in the Central North Pacific

Singing Fin Whale Swimming Behavior in the Central North Pacific

Reduction of Low-Frequency Vessel Noise in Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Fin whale acoustic populations present in New Zealand waters: Description of song types, occurrence and seasonality using passive acoustic monitoring

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