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Boing! Acoustic localization, characterisation and comparison of minke whale songs from the Hawaiian islands and other areas in the North Pacific Ocean [abstract]

Norris, T, Yack, T, Oswald, J, Martin, S, Thomas, L & Janik, V (2012). Boing! Acoustic localization, characterisation and comparison of minke whale songs from the Hawaiian islands and other areas in the North Pacific Ocean [abstract]. Bioacoustics, Volume 21 (1): 77

 

Abstract: 

The minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) is a small, elusive baleen whale that is rarely sighted in tropical waters of the North Pacific Ocean. During winter and spring, they produce songs, also known as ‘boings’, that are commonly detected at deep water hydrophones located around the Hawaiian Islands. We acoustically monitored minke whales using a fixed seafloor hydrophone array encompassing a large ( >2000 km2), deep-water area off the island of Kauai. Simultaneous visual-acoustic surveys of the same region were conducted from a quiet motor-sailing vessel. The combination of the towed and fixed hydrophone arrays allowed animals to be localized and tracked in near real-time. Using both methods, we were able to visually confirm the location of a minke whale initially detected and localized using the fixed hydrophone array, and later with the towed hydrophone array. These data are being collected to help validate statistical methods that are being developed to estimate densities of marine mammals using acoustic signals they produce. In a related study, boings recorded in the Hawaiian Islands (central North Pacific) were acoustically characterised and compared to boings recorded in the western and eastern North Pacific. These results are discussed in relation to the behaviour and population biology of this species. We provide recommendations for tracking, monitoring behaviours and estimating the distribution and distribution of these vocally active, but visually elusive whales.