@article {53285, title = {Temporal variations in humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) song in Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, northeast Pacific}, journal = {The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America}, volume = {144}, year = {2018}, month = {Jan-09-2018}, pages = {1953 - 1953}, abstract = {

Using two years of nearly continuous recordings from Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, August 2015 through July 2017, variations in humpback whale song are examined on diel, seasonal, and interannual time scales. The cabled hydrophone is in humpback feeding and migratory habitat at 36.7128\°N, 122.186\°W. Diel analyses show 69\% of song during night, 23\% during day, and 8\% during dusk or dawn. Seasonal analyses show song absence during summer (June\–August), emergence during fall (September\–October), peak during late fall/winter (November\–January), and highly variable detection during spring (February\–May). During both years \>80\% of song occurred during the November\–January peak. Song detection within a month reached a maximum of 58\% of the time during November 2016. Song length increased (p \< 0.01) month-to-month from the start in fall through the end of the peak in January. The months of maximum song occurrence coincide with declining visual sighting of humpbacks within Monterey Bay, consistent with seasonal southward migration to breeding habitat and/or more offshore residence. Interannual variation in song was marked by a 51\% increase between the first and second years. Habitat during the first year was strongly influenced by a prolonged regional oceanic warm anomaly and the largest toxic algal bloom ever recorded in the northeast Pacific. Alternative hypotheses for the interannual difference in song detection relate to differences in humpback regional abundance, behavior, and habitat occupancy.

}, issn = {0001-4966}, doi = {10.1121/1.5068537}, url = {http://asa.scitation.org/doi/10.1121/1.5068537}, author = {Ryan, John P. and Cline, Danelle E. and Joseph, John E. and Margolina, Tetyana and Stimpert, Alison K. and Forney, Karin and Black, Nancy and DeVogelaere, Andrew and Fischer, Mark and Wahl, Christopher and Chavez, Francisco} } @article {53064, title = {Context-dependent variability in blue whale acoustic behaviour}, journal = {Royal Society Open Science}, volume = {5}, year = {2018}, abstract = {

Acoustic communication is an important aspect of reproductive, foraging and social behaviours for many marine species. Northeast Pacific blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus) produce three different call types\—A, B and D calls. All may be produced as singular calls, but A and B calls also occur in phrases to form songs. To evaluate the behavioural context of singular call and phrase production in blue whales, the acoustic and dive profile data from tags deployed on individuals off southern California were assessed using generalized estimating equations. Only 22\% of all deployments contained sounds attributed to the tagged animal. A larger proportion of tagged animals were female (47\%) than male (13\%), with 40\% of unknown sex. Fifty per cent of tags deployed on males contained sounds attributed to the tagged whale, while only a few (5\%) deployed on females did. Most calls were produced at shallow depths (less than 30\ m). Repetitive phrasing (singing) and production of singular calls were most common during shallow, non-lunging dives, with the latter also common during surface behaviour. Higher sound production rates occurred during autumn than summer and they varied with time-of-day: singular call rates were higher at dawn and dusk, while phrase production rates were highest at dusk and night.

}, keywords = {acoustic communication, Balaenoptera musculus, behavioural context, blue whale, song}, doi = {10.1098/rsos.180241}, url = {http://rsos.royalsocietypublishing.org/lookup/doi/10.1098/rsos.180241https://syndication.highwire.org/content/doi/10.1098/rsos.180241}, author = {Lewis, Leah A. and Calambokidis, John and Stimpert, Alison K. and Fahlbusch, James and Friedlaender, Ari S. and McKenna, Megan F. and Mesnick, Sarah L. and Southall, Brandon L. and Szesciorka, Angela R. and {\v S}irovi{\'c}, Ana} }