A comparison of diving behavior of goose-beaked and dense-beaked whales from tagging studies in multiple ocean basins

Jay Barlow; Robin W. Baird; Janelle Badger; Gregory S. Schorr; Erin A. Falcone; Shannon N. Coates; Peter L. Tyack; Andrew J. Read; Leigh S. Hickmott; John W. Durban; Diane Claridge; Natacha Aguilar de Soto; Daniel Miranda Gonzalez; Fleur Visser; Machiel G. Oudejans; Stacy DeRuiter; David A. Sweeney; Brenda K. Rone; Stephanie L. Watwood

doi:10.1111/mms.70070

A comparison of diving behavior of goose-beaked and dense-beaked whales from tagging studies in multiple ocean basins

Jay Barlow^*, Robin W. Baird, Janelle Badger, Gregory S. Schorr, Erin A. Falcone, Shannon N. Coates, Peter L. Tyack, Andrew J. Read, Leigh S. Hickmott, John W. Durban, Diane Claridge, Natacha Aguilar de Soto, Daniel Miranda Gonzalez, Fleur Visser, Machiel G. Oudejans, Stacy DeRuiter, David A. Sweeney, Brenda K. Rone, Stephanie L. Watwood

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Studies of cetacean diving behavior in multiple locations in different ocean basins allow for an assessment of variability within and among populations. We examine foraging dive behaviors of goose-beaked whales (Ziphius cavirostris) and dense-beaked whales (Mesoplodon densirostris) using data from 132 tagged whales in seven locations in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans and the Mediterranean Sea. Acoustic recording tags are used to identify foraging dives by the presence of echolocation. For other tag types, foraging dives are identified based on maximum dive depth. Five parameters are used to characterize foraging dives: maximum dive depth, foraging dive duration, dive cycle duration, and the mean and standard deviation of echolocation depths. We find that differences among dives within one tagged individual are typically larger than the differences among individuals or among locations, and that differences among individuals are typically similar in magnitude to differences among locations. Regression is used to estimate the mean and standard deviation of echolocation depths from maximum dive depth for dives without acoustic data. Composite values of foraging dive parameters (and standard deviations) are estimated as the average of all study locations.

Original language	English
Article number	e70070
Pages (from-to)	1-17
Number of pages	17
Journal	Marine Mammal Science
Volume	42
Issue number	1
Early online date	17 Sept 2025
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/mms.70070
Publication status	Published - 1 Jan 2026

Keywords

Beaked whale
Dive cycle
Echolocation
Echolocation depth
Foraging dive duration
Maximum dive depth
Mesoplodon densirostris
Ziphius cavirostris

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Published 2025. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA. Marine Mammal Science published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Society for Marine Mammalogy. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.
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Barlow, J., Baird, R. W., Badger, J., Schorr, G. S., Falcone, E. A., Coates, S. N., Tyack, P. L., Read, A. J., Hickmott, L. S., Durban, J. W., Claridge, D., de Soto, N. A., Gonzalez, D. M., Visser, F., Oudejans, M. G., DeRuiter, S., Sweeney, D. A., Rone, B. K., & Watwood, S. L. (2026). A comparison of diving behavior of goose-beaked and dense-beaked whales from tagging studies in multiple ocean basins. Marine Mammal Science, 42(1), 1-17. Article e70070. https://doi.org/10.1111/mms.70070

@article{ff9bbb25a95842d999c5c61b961224c8,

title = "A comparison of diving behavior of goose-beaked and dense-beaked whales from tagging studies in multiple ocean basins",

abstract = "Studies of cetacean diving behavior in multiple locations in different ocean basins allow for an assessment of variability within and among populations. We examine foraging dive behaviors of goose-beaked whales (Ziphius cavirostris) and dense-beaked whales (Mesoplodon densirostris) using data from 132 tagged whales in seven locations in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans and the Mediterranean Sea. Acoustic recording tags are used to identify foraging dives by the presence of echolocation. For other tag types, foraging dives are identified based on maximum dive depth. Five parameters are used to characterize foraging dives: maximum dive depth, foraging dive duration, dive cycle duration, and the mean and standard deviation of echolocation depths. We find that differences among dives within one tagged individual are typically larger than the differences among individuals or among locations, and that differences among individuals are typically similar in magnitude to differences among locations. Regression is used to estimate the mean and standard deviation of echolocation depths from maximum dive depth for dives without acoustic data. Composite values of foraging dive parameters (and standard deviations) are estimated as the average of all study locations.",

keywords = "Beaked whale, Dive cycle, Echolocation, Echolocation depth, Foraging dive duration, Maximum dive depth, Mesoplodon densirostris, Ziphius cavirostris",

author = "Jay Barlow and Baird, \{Robin W.\} and Janelle Badger and Schorr, \{Gregory S.\} and Falcone, \{Erin A.\} and Coates, \{Shannon N.\} and Tyack, \{Peter L.\} and Read, \{Andrew J.\} and Hickmott, \{Leigh S.\} and Durban, \{John W.\} and Diane Claridge and \{de Soto\}, \{Natacha Aguilar\} and Gonzalez, \{Daniel Miranda\} and Fleur Visser and Oudejans, \{Machiel G.\} and Stacy DeRuiter and Sweeney, \{David A.\} and Rone, \{Brenda K.\} and Watwood, \{Stephanie L.\}",

note = "Funding: This analysis of beaked whale tagging data was funded by NOAA's Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center. Individual tagging studies were funded by multiple sources: the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA Fisheries' Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, Office of Science and Technology, and Ocean Acoustics Program), the U.S. Navy (Office of Naval Research, Living Marine Resources Program (N45/LMR), Pacific Fleet, Chief of Naval Operations' Environmental Readiness Division, US Fleet Forces Command, and Naval Facilities Engineering Command), the Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program, the Sound and Marine Life Joint Industry Programme of the International Association of Oil and Gas Producers, the Marine Alliance for Science and Technology for Scotland (funded by the Scottish Funding Council), the Dutch Research Council, and the Spanish government via grant CETOCAN funded by MICIU/AEI/ 10.13039/501100011033 and FEDER, UE.",

year = "2026",

month = jan,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1111/mms.70070",

language = "English",

volume = "42",

pages = "1--17",

journal = "Marine Mammal Science",

issn = "0824-0469",

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Barlow, J, Baird, RW, Badger, J, Schorr, GS, Falcone, EA, Coates, SN, Tyack, PL, Read, AJ, Hickmott, LS, Durban, JW, Claridge, D, de Soto, NA, Gonzalez, DM, Visser, F, Oudejans, MG, DeRuiter, S, Sweeney, DA, Rone, BK & Watwood, SL 2026, 'A comparison of diving behavior of goose-beaked and dense-beaked whales from tagging studies in multiple ocean basins', Marine Mammal Science, vol. 42, no. 1, e70070, pp. 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1111/mms.70070

TY - JOUR

T1 - A comparison of diving behavior of goose-beaked and dense-beaked whales from tagging studies in multiple ocean basins

AU - Barlow, Jay

AU - Baird, Robin W.

AU - Badger, Janelle

AU - Schorr, Gregory S.

AU - Falcone, Erin A.

AU - Coates, Shannon N.

AU - Tyack, Peter L.

AU - Read, Andrew J.

AU - Hickmott, Leigh S.

AU - Durban, John W.

AU - Claridge, Diane

AU - de Soto, Natacha Aguilar

AU - Gonzalez, Daniel Miranda

AU - Visser, Fleur

AU - Oudejans, Machiel G.

AU - DeRuiter, Stacy

AU - Sweeney, David A.

AU - Rone, Brenda K.

AU - Watwood, Stephanie L.

N1 - Funding: This analysis of beaked whale tagging data was funded by NOAA's Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center. Individual tagging studies were funded by multiple sources: the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA Fisheries' Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, Office of Science and Technology, and Ocean Acoustics Program), the U.S. Navy (Office of Naval Research, Living Marine Resources Program (N45/LMR), Pacific Fleet, Chief of Naval Operations' Environmental Readiness Division, US Fleet Forces Command, and Naval Facilities Engineering Command), the Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program, the Sound and Marine Life Joint Industry Programme of the International Association of Oil and Gas Producers, the Marine Alliance for Science and Technology for Scotland (funded by the Scottish Funding Council), the Dutch Research Council, and the Spanish government via grant CETOCAN funded by MICIU/AEI/ 10.13039/501100011033 and FEDER, UE.

PY - 2026/1/1

Y1 - 2026/1/1

N2 - Studies of cetacean diving behavior in multiple locations in different ocean basins allow for an assessment of variability within and among populations. We examine foraging dive behaviors of goose-beaked whales (Ziphius cavirostris) and dense-beaked whales (Mesoplodon densirostris) using data from 132 tagged whales in seven locations in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans and the Mediterranean Sea. Acoustic recording tags are used to identify foraging dives by the presence of echolocation. For other tag types, foraging dives are identified based on maximum dive depth. Five parameters are used to characterize foraging dives: maximum dive depth, foraging dive duration, dive cycle duration, and the mean and standard deviation of echolocation depths. We find that differences among dives within one tagged individual are typically larger than the differences among individuals or among locations, and that differences among individuals are typically similar in magnitude to differences among locations. Regression is used to estimate the mean and standard deviation of echolocation depths from maximum dive depth for dives without acoustic data. Composite values of foraging dive parameters (and standard deviations) are estimated as the average of all study locations.

AB - Studies of cetacean diving behavior in multiple locations in different ocean basins allow for an assessment of variability within and among populations. We examine foraging dive behaviors of goose-beaked whales (Ziphius cavirostris) and dense-beaked whales (Mesoplodon densirostris) using data from 132 tagged whales in seven locations in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans and the Mediterranean Sea. Acoustic recording tags are used to identify foraging dives by the presence of echolocation. For other tag types, foraging dives are identified based on maximum dive depth. Five parameters are used to characterize foraging dives: maximum dive depth, foraging dive duration, dive cycle duration, and the mean and standard deviation of echolocation depths. We find that differences among dives within one tagged individual are typically larger than the differences among individuals or among locations, and that differences among individuals are typically similar in magnitude to differences among locations. Regression is used to estimate the mean and standard deviation of echolocation depths from maximum dive depth for dives without acoustic data. Composite values of foraging dive parameters (and standard deviations) are estimated as the average of all study locations.

KW - Beaked whale

KW - Dive cycle

KW - Echolocation

KW - Echolocation depth

KW - Foraging dive duration

KW - Maximum dive depth

KW - Mesoplodon densirostris

KW - Ziphius cavirostris

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105016390414

U2 - 10.1111/mms.70070

DO - 10.1111/mms.70070

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:105016390414

SN - 0824-0469

VL - 42

SP - 1

EP - 17

JO - Marine Mammal Science

JF - Marine Mammal Science

IS - 1

M1 - e70070

ER -

A comparison of diving behavior of goose-beaked and dense-beaked whales from tagging studies in multiple ocean basins

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