Passive acoustic monitoring of beaked whale densities in the Gulf of Mexico

John Hildebrand; Simone Baumann-Pickering; Kaitlin Frasier; Jennifer Trickey; Karlina Merkens; Sean Wiggins; Mark McDonald; Lance Garrison; Danielle Harris; Tiago A. Marques; Len Thomas

doi:10.1038/srep16343

Passive acoustic monitoring of beaked whale densities in the Gulf of Mexico

John Hildebrand, Simone Baumann-Pickering, Kaitlin Frasier, Jennifer Trickey, Karlina Merkens, Sean Wiggins, Mark McDonald, Lance Garrison, Danielle Harris, Tiago A. Marques, Len Thomas

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

Abstract

Beaked whales are deep diving elusive animals, difficult to census with conventional visual surveys. Methods are presented for the density estimation of beaked whales, using passive acoustic monitoring data collected at sites in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) from the period during and following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill (2010–2013). Beaked whale species detected include: Gervais’
(Mesoplodon europaeus), Cuvier’s (Ziphius cavirostris), Blainville’s (Mesoplodon densirostris) and an unknown species of Mesoplodon sp. (designated as Beaked Whale Gulf — BWG). For Gervais’ and Cuvier’s beaked whales, we estimated weekly animal density using two methods, one based on the number of echolocation clicks, and another based on the detection of animal groups during 5 min time-bins. Density estimates derived from these two methods were in good general agreement. At two sites in the western GOM, Gervais’ beaked whales were present throughout the monitoring period, but Cuvier’s beaked whales were present only seasonally, with periods of low density during
the summer and higher density in the winter. At an eastern GOM site, both Gervais’ and Cuvier’s beaked whales had a high density throughout the monitoring period.

Original language	English
Article number	16343
Number of pages	15
Journal	Scientific Reports
Volume	5
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/srep16343
Publication status	Published - 12 Nov 2015

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title = "Passive acoustic monitoring of beaked whale densities in the Gulf of Mexico",

abstract = "Beaked whales are deep diving elusive animals, difficult to census with conventional visual surveys. Methods are presented for the density estimation of beaked whales, using passive acoustic monitoring data collected at sites in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) from the period during and following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill (2010–2013). Beaked whale species detected include: Gervais{\textquoteright} (Mesoplodon europaeus), Cuvier{\textquoteright}s (Ziphius cavirostris), Blainville{\textquoteright}s (Mesoplodon densirostris) and an unknown species of Mesoplodon sp. (designated as Beaked Whale Gulf — BWG). For Gervais{\textquoteright} and Cuvier{\textquoteright}s beaked whales, we estimated weekly animal density using two methods, one based on the number of echolocation clicks, and another based on the detection of animal groups during 5 min time-bins. Density estimates derived from these two methods were in good general agreement. At two sites in the western GOM, Gervais{\textquoteright} beaked whales were present throughout the monitoring period, but Cuvier{\textquoteright}s beaked whales were present only seasonally, with periods of low density during the summer and higher density in the winter. At an eastern GOM site, both Gervais{\textquoteright} and Cuvier{\textquoteright}s beaked whales had a high density throughout the monitoring period.",

author = "John Hildebrand and Simone Baumann-Pickering and Kaitlin Frasier and Jennifer Trickey and Karlina Merkens and Sean Wiggins and Mark McDonald and Lance Garrison and Danielle Harris and Marques, {Tiago A.} and Len Thomas",

note = "Funding to support the tag data was also received from the MASTS pooling initiative (The Marine Alliance for Science and Technology for Scotland) funded by the Scottish Funding Council (grant reference HR09011) and contributing institutions. ",

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AU - Hildebrand, John

AU - Baumann-Pickering, Simone

AU - Frasier, Kaitlin

AU - Trickey, Jennifer

AU - Merkens, Karlina

AU - Wiggins, Sean

AU - McDonald, Mark

AU - Garrison, Lance

AU - Harris, Danielle

AU - Marques, Tiago A.

AU - Thomas, Len

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PY - 2015/11/12

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N2 - Beaked whales are deep diving elusive animals, difficult to census with conventional visual surveys. Methods are presented for the density estimation of beaked whales, using passive acoustic monitoring data collected at sites in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) from the period during and following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill (2010–2013). Beaked whale species detected include: Gervais’ (Mesoplodon europaeus), Cuvier’s (Ziphius cavirostris), Blainville’s (Mesoplodon densirostris) and an unknown species of Mesoplodon sp. (designated as Beaked Whale Gulf — BWG). For Gervais’ and Cuvier’s beaked whales, we estimated weekly animal density using two methods, one based on the number of echolocation clicks, and another based on the detection of animal groups during 5 min time-bins. Density estimates derived from these two methods were in good general agreement. At two sites in the western GOM, Gervais’ beaked whales were present throughout the monitoring period, but Cuvier’s beaked whales were present only seasonally, with periods of low density during the summer and higher density in the winter. At an eastern GOM site, both Gervais’ and Cuvier’s beaked whales had a high density throughout the monitoring period.

AB - Beaked whales are deep diving elusive animals, difficult to census with conventional visual surveys. Methods are presented for the density estimation of beaked whales, using passive acoustic monitoring data collected at sites in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) from the period during and following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill (2010–2013). Beaked whale species detected include: Gervais’ (Mesoplodon europaeus), Cuvier’s (Ziphius cavirostris), Blainville’s (Mesoplodon densirostris) and an unknown species of Mesoplodon sp. (designated as Beaked Whale Gulf — BWG). For Gervais’ and Cuvier’s beaked whales, we estimated weekly animal density using two methods, one based on the number of echolocation clicks, and another based on the detection of animal groups during 5 min time-bins. Density estimates derived from these two methods were in good general agreement. At two sites in the western GOM, Gervais’ beaked whales were present throughout the monitoring period, but Cuvier’s beaked whales were present only seasonally, with periods of low density during the summer and higher density in the winter. At an eastern GOM site, both Gervais’ and Cuvier’s beaked whales had a high density throughout the monitoring period.

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Passive acoustic monitoring of beaked whale densities in the Gulf of Mexico

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