VOCAL ACTIVITY OF FIN WHALES, <i>BALAENOPTERA PHYSALUS</i>, IN THE LIGURIAN SEA

Clark, Christopher W.; Borsani, J. Fabrizio; Sciara, Giuseppe Notarbartolo di

doi:10.1111/j.1748-7692.2002.tb01035.x

Cited by 75 publications

(77 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…In this brief review, I will only discuss the first species, which is by far the best studied. Males of some other baleen whale species (e.g., fin whales) also make loud, low-frequency vocalizations (Clark, Borsani, & Notarbartolo-di-Sciara, 2002) that are believed to be involved in courtship or mating, but are not complex enough to have earned the name ''song''.…”

Section: Whale Songmentioning

confidence: 99%

The biology and evolution of music: A comparative perspective

2006

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Studies of the biology of music (as of language) are highly interdisciplinary and demand the integration of diverse strands of evidence. In this paper, I present a comparative perspective on the biology and evolution of music, stressing the value of comparisons both with human language, and with those animal communication systems traditionally termed ''song''. A comparison of the ''design features'' of music with those of language reveals substantial overlap, along with some important differences. Most of these differences appear to stem from semantic, rather than structural, factors, suggesting a shared formal core of music and language. I next review various animal communication systems that appear related to human music, either by analogy (bird and whale ''song'') or potential homology (great ape bimanual drumming). A crucial comparative distinction is between learned, complex signals (like language, music and birdsong) and unlearned signals (like laughter, ape calls, or bird calls). While human vocalizations clearly build upon an acoustic and emotional foundation shared with other primates and mammals, vocal learning has evolved independently in our species since our divergence with chimpanzees. The convergent evolution of vocal learning in other species offers a powerful window into psychological and neural constraints influencing the evolution of complex signaling systems (including both song and speech), while ape drumming presents a fascinating potential homology with human instrumental music. I next discuss the archeological data relevant to music evolution, concluding on the basis of prehistoric bone flutes that instrumental music is at least 40,000 years old, and perhaps much older. I end with a brief review of adaptive functions proposed for music, concluding that no one selective force (e.g., sexual selection) is adequate to explaining all aspects of human music. I suggest that questions about ARTICLE IN PRESSthe past function of music are unlikely to be answered definitively and are thus a poor choice as a research focus for biomusicology. In contrast, a comparative approach to music promises rich dividends for our future understanding of the biology and evolution of music.

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Section: Whale Songmentioning

confidence: 99%

The biology and evolution of music: A comparative perspective

2006

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“…However, the capability to correlate noise exposure with behavioural state and vocalization rates is an important benefit of tag-based studies. Autonomous units recording ambient noise levels continuously in a fixed location, such as EARS (Lammers et al 2008) or MARUs (Clark et al 2002), are better suited for quantifying ambient noise variations in a habitat. However, if the sources of noise are not randomly distributed One downside of using recordings from archival tags or autonomous acoustic recorders is the difficulty in ascribing changes in noise levels to identified sources in the environment.…”

Section: Masking Levels Experienced By Free-ranging Animalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vessel noise effects on delphinid communication

Jensen¹,

Bejder²,

Wahlberg³

et al. 2009

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

194

142

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Increasing numbers and speeds of vessels in areas with populations of cetaceans may have the cumulative effect of reducing habitat quality by increasing the underwater noise level. Here, we first use digital acoustic tags to demonstrate that free-ranging delphinids in a coastal deepwater habitat are subjected to varying and occasionally intense levels of vessel noise. Vessel noise and sound propagation measurements from a shallow-water habitat are then used to model the potential impact of high sound levels from small vessels on delphinid communication in both shallow and deep habitats, with bottlenose dolphins Tursiops sp. and short-finned pilot whales Globicephala macrorhynchus as model organisms. We find that small vessels travelling at 5 knots in shallow water can reduce the communication range of bottlenose dolphins within 50 m by 26%. Pilot whales in a quieter deep-water habitat could suffer a reduction in their communication range of 58% caused by a vessel at similar range and speed. Increased cavitation noise at higher speeds drastically increases the impact on the communication range. Gear shifts generate high-level transient sounds (peakpeak source levels of up to 200 dB re 1 µPa) that may be audible over many kilometres and may disturb close-range animals. We conclude that noise from small vessels can significantly mask acoustically mediated communication in delphinids and contribute to the documented negative impacts on animal fitness.

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“…Detection ranges of calls for these three species might be affected by passing ships in similar ways, which is of concern given the dependence of Balaenoperids on long range communication (Payne and Webb, 1971). Although their calls have been mainly attributed to male reproductive displays, whales also produce sounds outside their breeding grounds and season (Clark et al, 2002;Oleson et al, 2007;Vu et al, 2012). Blue whales are known to produce D calls during foraging within groups (McDonald et al, 2001;Stafford et al, 2005;Calambokidis et al, 2008) and fin whales produce "20-Hz pulse" calls that are likely to have a social purpose or a contact maintaining function when produced irregularly or as call-counter calls (McDonald et al, 1995;Edds-Walton, 1997).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Underwater Ambient Noise in a Baleen Whale Migratory Habitat Off the Azores

et al. 2017

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Assessment of underwater noise is of particular interest given the increase in noise-generating human activities and the potential negative effects on marine mammals which depend on sound for many vital processes. The Azores archipelago is an important migratory and feeding habitat for blue (Balaenoptera musculus), fin (Balaenoptera physalus) and sei whales (Balaenoptera borealis) en route to summering grounds in northern Atlantic waters. High levels of low frequency noise in this area could displace whales or interfere with foraging behavior, impacting energy intake during a critical stage of their annual cycle. In this study, bottom-mounted Ecological Acoustic Recorders were deployed at three Azorean seamounts (Condor, Açores, and Gigante) to measure temporal variations in background noise levels and ship noise in the 18-1,000 Hz frequency band, used by baleen whales to emit and receive sounds. Monthly average noise levels ranged from 90.3 dB re 1 µPa (Açores seamount) to 103.1 dB re 1 µPa (Condor seamount) and local ship noise was present up to 13% of the recording time in Condor. At this location, average contribution of local boat noise to background noise levels is almost 10 dB higher than wind contribution, which might temporally affect detection ranges for baleen whale calls and difficult communication at long ranges. Given the low time percentatge with noise levels above 120 dB re 1 µPa found here (3.3% at Condor), we woud expect limited behavioral responses to ships from baleen whales. Sound pressure levels measured in the Azores are lower than those reported for the Mediterranean basin and the Strait of Gibraltar. However, the currently unknown effects of baleen whale vocalization masking and the increasing presence of boats at the monitored sites underline the need for continuous monitoring to understand any long-term impacts on whales.

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VOCAL ACTIVITY OF FIN WHALES, BALAENOPTERA PHYSALUS, IN THE LIGURIAN SEA

Cited by 75 publications

References 17 publications

The biology and evolution of music: A comparative perspective

The biology and evolution of music: A comparative perspective

Vessel noise effects on delphinid communication

Underwater Ambient Noise in a Baleen Whale Migratory Habitat Off the Azores

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