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The Cetacean Sound Library of the Interdisciplinary Center for Bioacoustics and Environmental Research [abstract]

M. Priano, G. Pavan, M. Manghi and C. Fossati (1998). The Cetacean Sound Library of the Interdisciplinary Center for Bioacoustics and Environmental Research [abstract]. Bioacoustics, Volume 9 (3): 233

 

Abstract: 

The "Centro Interdisciplinare di Bioacustica e Ricerche Ambientali'' was founded in 1988 by the University of Pavia. Since 1989 it is endowed with a Laboratory of Marine Bioacoustics granted by the "lspettorato Centrale per la Difesa del Mare'' of the Italian Ministry of the Environment. The Cetacean Sound Library created at the Centro holds recordings made in research cruises organised to study the acoustic behaviour, distribution and biology of cetaceans in the Mediterranean Sea. More than 130 hours of recordings belong to Sperm whales (which till now has been the target species), Striped dolphins, Risso's dolphins, Bottlenose dolphins, Common dolphins, Pilot whales, and other sound sources including man-made noises. A catalogue based on a widely used database format was created in order to allow an easy and reliable access to the collected recordings and to related data such as digitised photographs of individual Sperm whales, video clips, behavioural observations, cruise tracks, bathymetric data, and others. In the last two years a useful partnership with the Italian Navy has been arranged, and the Centro is asked to evaluate biological sounds recorded in ASW (Anti Submarine Warfare) operations and surveys.