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2009b. Phonation behavior of cooperatively foraging spinner dolphins
- Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
"... Groups of spinner dolphins have been shown to cooperatively herd small prey. It was hypothesized that the strong group coordination is maintained by acoustic communication, specifically by frequency-modulated whistles. Observations of groups of spinner dolphins foraging at night within a sound-scat ..."
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Groups of spinner dolphins have been shown to cooperatively herd small prey. It was hypothesized that the strong group coordination is maintained by acoustic communication, specifically by frequency-modulated whistles. Observations of groups of spinner dolphins foraging at night within a sound-scattering layer were made with a multibeam echosounder while the rates of dolphin sounds were measured using four hydrophones at 6 m depth intervals. Whistles were only detected when dolphins were not foraging and when animals were surfacing. Differences in click rates were found between depths and between different foraging stages but were relatively low when observations indicated that dolphins were actively feeding despite the consistency of these clicks with echolocation signals. Highest click rates occurred within the scattering layer, during transitions between foraging states. This suggests that clicks may be used directly or indirectly to cue group movement during foraging, potentially by detecting other individuals' positions in the group or serving a direct communicative role which would be contrary to the existing assumption that echolocation and communication are compartmentalized. Communicating via clicks would be beneficial as the signal's characteristics minimize the chance of eavesdropping by competing dolphins and large fish. Our results are unable to support the established paradigm for dolphin acoustic communication and suggest an alternate coordination mechanism in foraging spinner dolphins.
Humpback Whale Song or Humpback Whale Sonar? A Reply to Au et al.
"... Abstract—Au and colleagues ’ arguments against the hypothesis that humpback whale songs function as long-range sonar are based on questionable assumptions rather than on empirical data. Like other echolocating mammals (e.g., bats), singing humpback whales: 1) localize targets in the absence of visua ..."
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Abstract—Au and colleagues ’ arguments against the hypothesis that humpback whale songs function as long-range sonar are based on questionable assumptions rather than on empirical data. Like other echolocating mammals (e.g., bats), singing humpback whales: 1) localize targets in the absence of visual information; 2) possess a highly innervated peripheral auditory system; and 3) modulate the temporal and spectral features of their sounds based on environmental conditions. The sonar equation is inadequate for determining whether humpback whale songs generate detectable echoes from other whales because it does not account for temporal variables that can strongly affect the detectability of echoes. In particular, the sonar equation ignores the fact that much of the noise encountered by singing humpback whales is spectrally and temporally predictable, and that audition in mammals is a dynamic and plastic process. Experiments are needed to test the hypothesis that singing humpback whales listen for and respond to echoes generated by their songs. Index Terms—Baleen whale, cetacean, environmentally-adaptive sonar, low-frequency sonar, mysticete.
