TY - JOUR
TI - Short- and long-term changes in right whale calling behavior: The potential effects of noise on acoustic communication
AU - Parks, S
AU - Clark, C
T2 - The Journal of the Acoustical Society
AB - The impact of anthropogenic noise on marine mammals has been an area of increasing concern over the past two decades. Most low-frequency anthropogenic noise in the ocean comes from commercial shipping which has contributed to an increase in ocean background noise over the past 150 years. The long-term impacts of these changes on marine mammals are not well understood. This paper describes both short- and long-term behavioral changes in calls produced by the endangered North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis) and South Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena australis) in the presence of increased low-frequency noise. Right whales produce calls with a higher average fundamental frequency and they call at a lower rate in high noise conditions, possibly in response to masking from low-frequency noise. The long-term changes have occurred within the known lifespan of individual whales, indicating that a behavioral change, rather than selective pressure, has resulted in the observed differences. This study provides evidence of a behavioral change in soundproduction of right whales that is correlated with increased noise levels and indicates that right whales may shift call frequency to compensate for increased band-limited background noise.
DA - 2007/12//
PY - 2007
VL - 122
IS - 6
SP - 3725
EP - 3731
UR - https://asa.scitation.org/doi/abs/10.1121/1.2799904
DO - 10.1121/1.2799904
LA - English
KW - Noise
KW - Marine Mammals
KW - Cetaceans
ER -