Vocal structure can vary between populations due to variation in ecology-dependent selection pressures, such as masking by background noise and the presence of eavesdroppers. Signalers can overcome these obstacles to effective communication by avoiding frequencies that overlap with background noise or the audible range of eavesdroppers. In the Northeastern Pacific three “ecotypes” of killer whale coexist in sympatry, but differ from one another in their diet and habitat use. The minimum frequency and the frequency containing the peak energy between 0 and of a random sample of calls produced by a population of each ecotype was measured. The offshore ecotype produced calls with a significantly higher than the other ecotypes, which could be a strategy to avoid masking by low frequency chronic bandlimited wind noise found in the offshore environment. The resident ecotype produced calls with a significantly higher and than the transient ecotype. This could be to reduce detection by their salmonid prey, which has a narrow band, low frequency auditory range.
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March 2008
March 01 2008
Variation in call pitch among killer whale ecotypes
Andrew D. Foote;
Andrew D. Foote
a)
School of Biological & Biomedical Sciences,
University of Durham
, Durham, DH1 3LE, United Kingdom
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Jeffrey A. Nystuen
Jeffrey A. Nystuen
Applied Physics Laboratory,
University of Washington
, 1013 NE 40th Street, Box 355640, Seattle, Washington 98105
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Andrew D. Foote
a)
Jeffrey A. Nystuen
School of Biological & Biomedical Sciences,
University of Durham
, Durham, DH1 3LE, United Kingdoma)
Current affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Lighthouse Field Station, George Street, Cromarty, Ross-shire, IV11 8YJ, United Kingdom. Electronic mail: [email protected]
J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 123, 1747–1752 (2008)
Article history
Received:
August 09 2007
Accepted:
December 27 2007
Citation
Andrew D. Foote, Jeffrey A. Nystuen; Variation in call pitch among killer whale ecotypes. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 1 March 2008; 123 (3): 1747–1752. https://doi.org/10.1121/1.2836752
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