TY - JOUR
T1 - Variability in ambient noise levels and call parameters of North Atlantic right whales in three habitat areas
AU - Parks, Susan E.
AU - Urazghildiiev, Ildar
AU - Clark, Christopher W.
N1 - Funding Information:
Special thanks go to the New England Aquarium right whale research group and the crew of the R/V Nereid; Michael Moore and the crew of the S/V Rostia; Alex Loer and the crew of the R/V Stellwagen; Christopher Tremblay, Chris Tessaglia-Hymes, Ward Krkoska, and Ingrid Biedron (Bioacoustics Research Program); Marc Costa and the crew of the R/V Shearwater (Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies) for assistance in deployment and recovery of the pop-up recording units; Melissa Fowler, Dimitri Ponirakis, and Ann Warde (Bioacoustics Research Program) for extraction and data analysis; and Kyle Becker for advice on shallow water propagation. Funding was provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, and by Liberty Harbor Associates through a contract with Environmental Sciences Inc.
PY - 2009
Y1 - 2009
N2 - The North Atlantic right whale inhabits the coastal waters off the east coasts of the United States and Canada, areas characterized by high levels of shipping and fishing activities. Acoustic communication plays an important role in the social behavior of these whales and increases in low-frequency noise may be leading to changes in their calling behavior. This study characterizes the ambient noise levels, including both natural and anthropogenic sources, and right whale upcall parameters in three right whale habitat areas. Continuous recordings were made seasonally using autonomous bottom-mounted recorders in the Bay of Fundy, Canada (2004, 2005), Cape Cod Bay, (2005, 2006), and off the coast of Georgia (2004-2005, 2006-2007). Consistent interannual trends in noise parameters were found for each habitat area, with both the band level and spectrum level measurements higher in the Bay of Fundy than in the other areas. Measured call parameters varied between habitats and between years within the same habitat area, indicating that habitat area and noise levels alone are not sufficient to predict variability in call parameters. These results suggest that right whales may be responding to the peak frequency of noise, rather than the absolute noise level in their environment.
AB - The North Atlantic right whale inhabits the coastal waters off the east coasts of the United States and Canada, areas characterized by high levels of shipping and fishing activities. Acoustic communication plays an important role in the social behavior of these whales and increases in low-frequency noise may be leading to changes in their calling behavior. This study characterizes the ambient noise levels, including both natural and anthropogenic sources, and right whale upcall parameters in three right whale habitat areas. Continuous recordings were made seasonally using autonomous bottom-mounted recorders in the Bay of Fundy, Canada (2004, 2005), Cape Cod Bay, (2005, 2006), and off the coast of Georgia (2004-2005, 2006-2007). Consistent interannual trends in noise parameters were found for each habitat area, with both the band level and spectrum level measurements higher in the Bay of Fundy than in the other areas. Measured call parameters varied between habitats and between years within the same habitat area, indicating that habitat area and noise levels alone are not sufficient to predict variability in call parameters. These results suggest that right whales may be responding to the peak frequency of noise, rather than the absolute noise level in their environment.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=59849101886&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=59849101886&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1121/1.3050282
DO - 10.1121/1.3050282
M3 - Article
C2 - 19206896
AN - SCOPUS:59849101886
SN - 0001-4966
VL - 125
SP - 1230
EP - 1239
JO - Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
JF - Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
IS - 2
ER -