Effects of a scientific echo sounder on the behavior of short-finned pilot whales (Globicephala macrorhynchus)
Abstract
Active echo sounding devices are often employed for commercial or scientific purposes in the foraging habitats of marine mammals. We conducted an experiment off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, USA, to assess whether the behavior of short-finned pilot whales (Globicephala macrorhynchus) changed when exposed to an EK60 scientific echo sounder. We attached digital acoustic recording tags (DTAGs) to nine individuals, five of which were exposed. A hidden Markov model to characterize diving states with and without exposure provided no evidence for a change in foraging behavior. However, generalized estimating equations to model changes in heading variance over the entire tag record under all experimental conditions showed a consistent increase in heading variance during exposure over all values of depth and pitch. This suggests that regardless of behavioral state, the whales changed their heading more frequently when the echo sounder was active. This response could represent increased vigilance in which whales maintained awareness of echo sounder location by increasing their heading variance and provides the first quantitative analysis on reactions of cetaceans to a scientific echo sounder.
Citation
Quick , N , Scott-Hayward , L , Sadykova , D , Nowacek , D & Read , A 2017 , ' Effects of a scientific echo sounder on the behavior of short-finned pilot whales ( Globicephala macrorhynchus ) ' , Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences , vol. 74 , no. 5 , pp. 716-726 . https://doi.org/10.1139/cjfas-2016-0293
Publication
Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
Status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
0706-652XType
Journal article
Rights
© 2016, the Author(s). This work is made available online in accordance with the publisher’s policies. This is the author created, accepted version manuscript following peer review and may differ slightly from the final published version. The final published version of this work is available at www.nrcresearchpress.com/journal/cjfas / https://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjfas-2016-0293
Description
This work was supported by award RC-2154 from the Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program and funding from the Naval Facilities Engineering Command Atlantic and NOAA Fisheries, Southeast Region.Collections
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