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dc.contributor.authorFais, A.
dc.contributor.authorAguilar de Soto, Natacha
dc.contributor.authorJohnson, M.
dc.contributor.authorPérez-González, C.
dc.contributor.authorMiller, P.J.O.
dc.contributor.authorMadsen, P.T.
dc.date.accessioned2016-02-07T00:12:44Z
dc.date.available2016-02-07T00:12:44Z
dc.date.issued2015-04
dc.identifier.citationFais , A , Aguilar de Soto , N , Johnson , M , Pérez-González , C , Miller , P J O & Madsen , P T 2015 , ' Sperm whale echolocation behaviour reveals a directed, prior-based search strategy informed by prey distribution ' , Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology , vol. 69 , no. 4 , pp. 663-674 . https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-015-1877-1en
dc.identifier.issn0340-5443
dc.identifier.otherPURE: 172109372
dc.identifier.otherPURE UUID: 44a625e8-f490-4050-af29-238378641031
dc.identifier.otherWOS: 000351235100016
dc.identifier.otherScopus: 84925463035
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10023/8168
dc.descriptionThe fieldwork was funded by a grant from the Carlsberg Foundation to B. Møhl and ONR, SERDP and FNU grants to MJ, PJOM and PTM. PJOM was supported by a Royal Society Fellowship, NAS by the International Campus of Excellence of the Canary Islands, MJ by the Marine Alliance for Science and Technology for Scotland and AF partly by project CETOBAPH (grant number CGL2009-1311218).en
dc.description.abstractPredators make foraging decisions based upon sensory information about resource availability, but little is known about how large, air-breathing predators collect and use such information to maximize energy returns when foraging in the deep sea. Here, we used archival tags to study how echolocating sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) use their long-range sensory capabilities to guide foraging in a deep-water habitat consisting of multiple, depth-segregated prey layers. Sperm whales employ a directed search behaviour by modulating their overall sonar sampling with the intention to exploit a particular prey layer. They forage opportunistically during some descents while actively adjusting their acoustic gaze to sequentially track different prey layers. While foraging within patches, sperm whales adjust their clicking rate both to search new water volumes as they turn and to match the prey distribution. This strategy increases information flow and suggests that sperm whales can perform auditory stream segregation of multiple targets when echolocating. Such flexibility in sampling tactics in concert with long-range sensing capabilities apparently allow sperm whales to efficiently locate and access prey resources in vast, heterogeneous, deep water habitats.
dc.language.isoeng
dc.relation.ispartofBehavioral Ecology and Sociobiologyen
dc.rightsThe final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00265-015-1877-1en
dc.subjectSperm whalesen
dc.subjectEcholocation behaviouren
dc.subjectDirected search behaviouren
dc.subjectPrior informationen
dc.subjectMulti-target acoustic sceneen
dc.subjectQH301 Biologyen
dc.subjectQL Zoologyen
dc.subjectNDASen
dc.subject.lccQH301en
dc.subject.lccQLen
dc.titleSperm whale echolocation behaviour reveals a directed, prior-based search strategy informed by prey distributionen
dc.typeJournal articleen
dc.contributor.sponsorEuropean Commissionen
dc.description.versionPostprinten
dc.contributor.institutionUniversity of St Andrews. School of Biologyen
dc.contributor.institutionUniversity of St Andrews. Marine Alliance for Science & Technology Scotlanden
dc.contributor.institutionUniversity of St Andrews. Sea Mammal Research Uniten
dc.contributor.institutionUniversity of St Andrews. Sound Tags Groupen
dc.contributor.institutionUniversity of St Andrews. Bioacoustics groupen
dc.contributor.institutionUniversity of St Andrews. Scottish Oceans Instituteen
dc.contributor.institutionUniversity of St Andrews. Institute of Behavioural and Neural Sciencesen
dc.contributor.institutionUniversity of St Andrews. Centre for Social Learning & Cognitive Evolutionen
dc.contributor.institutionUniversity of St Andrews. Centre for Research into Ecological & Environmental Modellingen
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-015-1877-1
dc.description.statusPeer revieweden
dc.date.embargoedUntil2016-02-07
dc.identifier.grantnumberPCIG10-GA-2011-304132en


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