Patterning in northern bottlenose whale (Hyperoodon ampullatus) click trains

Authors

  • Hilary Bernice Moors-Murphy Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Abstract

Northern bottlenose whales (Hyperoodon ampullatus) are large toothed whales of the family Ziphiidae; the beaked whales. They are known to produce various types of click vocalizations including upswept pulses that occur at regular interclick intervals (ICI), buzz clicks that occur at high repetition rates, and more variable surface clicks that often occur in rapid succession with increasing or decreasing ICIs. During northern bottlenose whale focused field studies conducted in July and August 2006 in the Gully submarine canyon off Nova Scotia, Canada, acoustic recordings were collected using a two-element towed hydrophone array. Recordings were made during and/or shortly after northern bottlenose whales were observed at the surface. Examination of these recordings revealed northern bottlenose whale click trains occurring with unusual temporal patterns that have not previously been described. Most notably, several “doublet click trains” consisting of pairs of clicks with a typical ICI separated by longer ICIs (often more than three times the length of typical ICIs) were recorded on multiple days. This presentation will describe these atypical click trains in greater detail. Further research is required to determine the prevalence of these patterned click trains in the northern bottlenose vocal repertoire and their function. This study highlights that there is still much to learn about northern bottlenose whale vocal behavior.

Author Biography

Hilary Bernice Moors-Murphy, Fisheries and Oceans Canada

I work with Fisheries and Oceans Canada primarily conducting research relevant to the monitoring and conservation of species at risk (and other cetaceans) in eastern Canadian waters. My main area of expertise is passive acoustic monitoring of marine mammals. While much of my work is focused on beaked whales, I also have interests in baleen and other toothed whales

Additional Files

Published

2015-09-01

How to Cite

1.
Moors-Murphy HB. Patterning in northern bottlenose whale (Hyperoodon ampullatus) click trains. Canadian Acoustics [Internet]. 2015 Sep. 1 [cited 2024 Apr. 18];43(3). Available from: https://jcaa.caa-aca.ca/index.php/jcaa/article/view/2795

Issue

Section

Proceedings of the Acoustics Week in Canada