Passive acoustic measurement of dive vocal behavior and group size of Blainville's beaked whale (Mesoplodon densirostris) in the tongue of the ocean (TOTO)

The vocal behavior of Blainville's beaked whale (Mesoplodon densirostris) was measured using the bottom-mounted hydrophones of the Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Center (AUTEC) in the Bahamas. The statistics for the vocal durations and gaps within these vocal periods were measured over multiple deep foraging dives. The sizes of foraging groups of M. densirostris were estimated from the dive vocalization durations by applying click rate and detection ratio statistics derived from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) Digital recording Tags (DTags) to visually verified data collected on the AUTEC range.