St Andrews Research Repository

St Andrews University Home
View Item 
  •   St Andrews Research Repository
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • View Item
  •   St Andrews Research Repository
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • View Item
  •   St Andrews Research Repository
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • View Item
  • Login
JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

Biosonar performance of foraging beaked whales (Mesoplodon densirostris)

Thumbnail
View/Open
Madsen_et_al_2005.pdf (1.795Mb)
Date
15/01/2005
Author
Madsen, P T
Johnson, M
de Soto, N A
Zimmer, W M X
Tyack, P
Keywords
Beaked whale
Mesoplodon densirostris
Echolocation
Bisonar
Automatic gain control
Foraging
Click interval
Sound production
QL Zoology
Metadata
Show full item record
Altmetrics Handle Statistics
Altmetrics DOI Statistics
Abstract
Toothed whales (Cetacea, odontoceti) emit sound pulses to probe their surroundings by active echolocation. Noninvasive, acoustic Dtags were placed on deep-diving Blainville's beaked whales (Mesoplodon densirostris) to record their ultrasonic clicks and the returning echoes from prey items, providing a unique view on how a whale operates its biosonar during foraging in the wild. The process of echolocation during prey capture in this species can be divided into search, approach and terminal phases, as in echolocating bats. The approach phase, defined by the onset of detectable echoes recorded on the tag for click sequences terminated by a buzz, has interclick intervals (ICI) of 300-400 ms. These ICIs are more than a magnitude longer than the decreasing two-way travel time to the targets, showing that ICIs are not given by the two-way-travel times plus a fixed, short lag time. During the approach phase, the received echo energy increases by 10.4((+/-)2) dB when the target range is halved, demonstrating that the whales do not employ range compensating gain control of the transmitter, as has been implicated for some bats and dolphins. The terminal/buzz phase with ICIs of around 10 ms is initiated when one or more targets are within approximately a body length of the whale (2-5 m), so that strong echo returns in the approach phase are traded for rapid updates in the terminal phase. It is suggested that stable ICIs in the search and approach phases facilitate auditory scene analysis in a complex multi-target environment, and that a concomitant low click rate allows the whales to maintain high sound pressure outputs for prey detection and discrimination with a pneumatically driven, bi-modal sound generator. demonstrating that the whales do not employ range-compensating gain control of the transmitter, as has been implicated for some bats and dolphins. The terminal/buzz phase with ICIs of around 10 ms is initiated when one or more targets are within approximately a body length of the whale (2-5 m), so that strong echo returns in the approach phase are traded for rapid updates in the terminal phase. It is suggested that stable ICIs in the search and approach phases facilitate auditory scene analysis in a complex multi-target environment, and that a concomitant low click rate allows the whales to maintain high sound pressure outputs for prey detection and discrimination with a pneumatically driven, bi-modal sound generator.
Citation
Madsen , P T , Johnson , M , de Soto , N A , Zimmer , W M X & Tyack , P 2005 , ' Biosonar performance of foraging beaked whales (Mesoplodon densirostris) ' , Journal of Experimental Biology , vol. 208 , no. 2 , pp. 181-194 . https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.01327
Publication
Journal of Experimental Biology
Status
Peer reviewed
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.01327
ISSN
0022-0949
Type
Journal article
Rights
(c) 2005 by the authors. Published by The Company of Biologists at http://jeb.biologists.org/
Collections
  • University of St Andrews Research
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10023/2598

Items in the St Andrews Research Repository are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.

Advanced Search

Browse

All of RepositoryCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateNamesTitlesSubjectsClassificationTypeFunderThis CollectionBy Issue DateNamesTitlesSubjectsClassificationTypeFunder

My Account

Login

Open Access

To find out how you can benefit from open access to research, see our library web pages and Open Access blog. For open access help contact: openaccess@st-andrews.ac.uk.

Accessibility

Read our Accessibility statement.

How to submit research papers

The full text of research papers can be submitted to the repository via Pure, the University's research information system. For help see our guide: How to deposit in Pure.

Electronic thesis deposit

Help with deposit.

Repository help

For repository help contact: Digital-Repository@st-andrews.ac.uk.

Give Feedback

Cookie policy

This site may use cookies. Please see Terms and Conditions.

Usage statistics

COUNTER-compliant statistics on downloads from the repository are available from the IRUS-UK Service. Contact us for information.

© University of St Andrews Library

University of St Andrews is a charity registered in Scotland, No SC013532.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter