Hello MARMAM Community, We are pleased to announce the publication of two short papers on humpback whale calling behavior in Southeast Alaska:
Fournet, MEH, Matthews, LM, Gabriele , CM, Mellinger, DK, and H Klinck. (2018) Source Levels of foraging humpback whale calls. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, Express Letters. 143(3) EL105-EL111. DOI: .org/10.1121/1.5023599 <https://doi.org/10.1121/1.5023599> Abstract: Humpback whales produce a wide range of low- to mid frequency vocalizations throughout their migratory range. Non-song “calls” dominate this species’ vocal repertoire while on high-latitude foraging grounds. The source levels of 426 humpback whale calls in four vocal classes were estimated using a four-element planar array deployed in Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, Southeast Alaska. There was no significant difference in source levels between humpback whale vocal classes. The mean call source level was 137 dBRMS re 1 uPa @ 1m in the bandwidth of the call (range 113–157 dBRMS re 1 lPa @ 1m), where bandwidth is defined as the frequency range from the lowest to the highest frequency component of the call. These values represent a robust estimate of humpback whale source levels on foraging grounds and should append earlier estimates. Fournet, MEH, Gabriele, CM, Sharpe, F, Straley, J, and AS Szabo. (2018). Feeding calls produced by solitary humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae). Marine Mammal Science. DOI: <goog_780586054> 10.1111/mms.12485 <http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/mms.12485/abstract> Summary: The humpback whale ‘feeding call’ is a highly stereotyped tonal call with a peak frequency of approximately 500 Hz that to-date has only been documented among groups (>2 individuals) of Alaskan humpback whales engaged in synchronized foraging events while feeding on Pacific herring (Clupea pallasii). In this paper we document feeding call use by solitary humpback whales throughout Southeast Alaska over a twenty year time period, and suggest that a primary function of this call is prey manipulation. Our observations demonstrate that the use of feeding calls is not exclusively linked to group coordination, and may not be exclusively linked to recruitment. While this study cannot speak to the question of how often solitary whales exhibit this behavior, we assert that the phenomenon is geographically and temporally widespread on Southeast Alaskan foraging grounds. PDFs of these publications can be found at: https://mfournet.wordpress.com/publications-and-presentations/ -- Michelle Fournet, M.S. PhD Candidate, Wildlife Science Oregon State University/NOAA Cooperative Institute for Marine Resource Studies Alaska Whale Foundation Research Associate michelle.four...@gmail.com mfournet.wordpress.com <http://www.mfournet.wordpress.com/>
_______________________________________________ MARMAM mailing list MARMAM@lists.uvic.ca https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/marmam
