Using passive acoustic monitoring to document the distribution of beaked whale species in the western North Atlantic Ocean

Details

• Journal Title:
  Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
• Personal Author:
  Stanistreet, Joy E. ; Nowacek, Douglas P. ; Baumann-Pickering, Simone ; Bell, Joel T. ; Cholewiak, Danielle M. ; Hildebrand, John A. ; Hodge, Lynne E.W. ; Moors-Murphy, Hilary B. ; Van Parijs, Sofie M. ; Read, Andrew J.
• NOAA Program & Office:
  NMFS (National Marine Fisheries Service) ; NEFSC (Northeast Fisheries Science Center)
• Description:
  Little is known about the ecology of many beaked whale species, despite concerns raised by mass strandings linked to certain sources of anthropogenic noise. Here, we used passive acoustic monitoring to examine spatial and temporal patterns in beaked whale occurrence at six locations along the continental slope in the western North Atlantic Ocean. We analyzed 2642 days of recordings collected between 2011 and 2015, and identified echolocation signals from northern bottlenose whales (Hyperoodon ampullatus), Cuvier’s (Ziphius cavirostris), Sowerby’s (Mesoplodon bidens), Gervais’, (Mesoplodon europaeus), and Blainville’s (Mesoplodon densirostris) beaked whales, and one signal type of unknown origin. We recorded multiple species at each site, with detections generally occurring year-round, and observed latitudinal gradients and site-specific variation in relative species occurrence. Notably, we regularly detected Cuvier’s beaked whales in a region where they have not been commonly observed, and discovered potential habitat partitioning among Cuvier’s and Gervais’ beaked whales within their overlapping ranges. This information on the distribution and seasonal occurrence of North Atlantic beaked whale species offers new insight into patterns of habitat use, and provides a year-round baseline from which to assess potential anthropogenic impacts.
• Source:
  Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 74(12), 2098-2109
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.1139/cjfas-2016-0503
• ISSN:
  0706-652X ; 1205-7533
• Format:
  pdf
• Publisher:
  Canadian Science Publishing
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Rights Information:
  Other
• Compliance:
  Library
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:eb17d2cd058f91101d6fdd81433449caf0fe3f5bd5ef1dcb274e8c985108ad98f764f40297c9d94b4318d18a7b9987631a9dbceaf9cb0a204c89e6b63ae7adae
• Download URL:
  https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/69173/noaa_69173_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 2.48 MB ]