Site specific probability of passive acoustic detection of humpback whale calls from single fixed hydrophones

Helble, Tyler A.; D’Spain, Gerald L.; Hildebrand, John A.; Campbell, Gregory S.; Campbell, Richard L.; Heaney, Kevin D.

doi:10.1121/1.4816581

Cited by 55 publications

(67 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…Variable detectability could also result from behavioral changes in the calling animals, such as a shortterm change in call rates due to noise or other reasons (Parks et al 2007, Helble et al 2013b), or variable calling depth (Simard et al 2008). There was no obvious evidence for a relationship between call rates and background noise in our data, as sites with, for example, high blue whale detections were found during both low and high average noise levels.…”

Section: Potential Causes Of Interannual Variationcontrasting

confidence: 43%

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Seven years of blue and fin whale call abundance in the Southern California Bight

irović¹,

Rice²,

Chou³

et al. 2015

Endang. Species. Res.

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Blue whales Balaenoptera musculus and fin whales B. physalus are common inhabitants of the Southern California Bight (SCB), but little is known about the spatial and temporal variability of their use of this area. To study their distribution in the SCB, high-frequency acoustic recording packages were intermittently deployed at 16 locations across the SCB from 2006 to 2012. Presence of blue whale B calls and fin whale 20 Hz calls was determined using 2 types of automatic detection methods, i.e. spectrogram correlation and acoustic energy detection, respectively. Blue whale B calls were generally detected between June and January, with a peak in September, with an overall total of over 3 million detections. Fin whale 20 Hz calls, measured via the fin whale call index, were present year-round, with the highest values between September and December, with a peak in November. Blue whale calls were more common at coastal sites and near the northern Channel Islands, while the fin whale call index was highest in the central and southern areas of the SCB, indicating a possible difference in habitat preferences of the 2 species in this area. Across years, a peak in blue whale call detections occurred in 2008, with minima in 2006 and 2007, but there was no long-term trend. There was an increase in the fin whale call index during this period. These trends are consistent with visual survey estimates for both species in Southern California, providing evidence that passive acoustics can be a powerful tool to monitor population trends for these endangered species.

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Section: Potential Causes Of Interannual Variationcontrasting

confidence: 43%

“…As demonstrated in the 'Data biases' section above, variation in background noise from shipping or other sources can affect the overall detection range (see also Simard et al 2008, Helble et al 2013b). This variability could be occurring over very short time scales, e.g.…”

Section: Potential Causes Of Interannual Variationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seven years of blue and fin whale call abundance in the Southern California Bight

irović¹,

Rice²,

Chou³

et al. 2015

Endang. Species. Res.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In the case where human analysts scan the detection outputs generated by an automated detection algorithm to eliminate false detections (i.e.,ĉ ¼ 0) as is done with the data presented in this paper, the calibration factor is the estimated probability of detection,P. Helble et al 2 demonstrated thatP can change by factors >10 between sensors at different a) Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Calibrating passive acoustic monitoring: Correcting humpback whale call detections for site-specific and time-dependent environmental characteristics

Helble

D’Spain

Campbell

et al. 2013

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America

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This paper demonstrates the importance of accounting for environmental effects on passive underwater acoustic monitoring results. The situation considered is the reduction in shipping off the California coast between 2008–2010 due to the recession and environmental legislation. The resulting variations in ocean noise change the probability of detecting marine mammal vocalizations. An acoustic model was used to calculate the time-varying probability of detecting humpback whale vocalizations under best-guess environmental conditions and varying noise. The uncorrected call counts suggest a diel pattern and an increase in calling over a two-year period; the corrected call counts show minimal evidence of these features.

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“…Most of the results from those efforts appear in Helble et al, 2012;2013a;2013b. A new manuscript outlining the technical details of humpback call association was accepted for publication by JASA in November 2014.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the near term, the SCORE range datasets can be used to track humpback whales, providing cue rates for transiting humpback whales off the coast of California. Because significant work has already been conducted on developing a viable humpback detection algorithm (Helble et al, 2012), and calculating the site specific probability of detection at certain locations off the coast of California (Helble et al, 2013a), obtaining a cue rate for the region will immediately yield humpback whale density estimates for transiting humpback whales in the southern California region (Helble et al, 2013c).…”

Section: Report Documentation Pagementioning

confidence: 99%

Obtaining Cue Rate Estimates for Some Mysticete Species using Existing Data

Helble

2014

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The long-term goals of this research effort are to improve the Navy's passive underwater acoustic monitoring of marine mammal populations. A major focus in this project is on further enhancing the ability to estimate animal density (animals per unit area per unit time) obtained from raw detections of calls in underwater acoustic recordings. The efforts in this program also will support the Master's Thesis research of Roanne Manzano-Roth at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey. OBJECTIVESAn emerging area of study in the field of marine mammal passive acoustics is the estimation of animal population densities from detections in passive acoustic data. In order to calculate animal density from passive acoustics, one must know the species-specific average cue rate, which is the average number of calls produced per animal per time. The cue rate can vary significantly by location and season, in addition to other factors. The objective of this proposed effort is to estimate average cue rates for several species of endangered mysticete whales on and near U.S. Navy ranges, using existing recordings from both the SCORE and PMRF hydrophone networks. One primary focus is to obtain cue rates for humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) off the California coast and on the PMRF range. To our knowledge, no humpback whale cue rates have been calculated for these populations. Once a cue rate is estimated for the populations of humpback whales off the California coast, density estimates can be readily calculated using previously published results of environmentally calibrated call densities. Animal density estimates are of great interest to NAVFAC monitoring efforts. The PMRF range off the coast of Hawaii provides an opportunity to estimate cue rates for humpback whales on breeding grounds, in addition to average cue rates for other species of mysticete whales. Cue rates of several other species of baleen whales off the California coast, including fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus), also can be estimated from existing data sets (e.g., the MNT/FET data set collected in 1999 by the ADS program) and so warrants additional study. APPROACHBecause of their extensive spatial coverage in areas of direct relevance to the U.S. Navy, datasets from the SCORE and PMRF ranges provide a unique opportunity for passive acoustic monitoring.

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Site specific probability of passive acoustic detection of humpback whale calls from single fixed hydrophones

Cited by 55 publications

References 25 publications

Seven years of blue and fin whale call abundance in the Southern California Bight

Seven years of blue and fin whale call abundance in the Southern California Bight

Calibrating passive acoustic monitoring: Correcting humpback whale call detections for site-specific and time-dependent environmental characteristics

Obtaining Cue Rate Estimates for Some Mysticete Species using Existing Data

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