Sperm whales produce different click types for echolocation and communication. Usual clicks and buzzes appear to be used primarily in foraging while codas are thought to function in social communication. The function of slow clicks is less clear, but they appear to be produced by males at higher latitudes, where they primarily forage solitarily, and on the breeding grounds, where they roam between groups of females. Here the behavioral context in which these vocalizations are produced and the function they may serve was investigated. Ninety-nine hours of acoustic and diving data were analyzed from sound recording tags on six male sperm whales in Northern Norway. The 755 slow clicks detected were produced by tagged animals at the surface (52%), ascending from a dive (37%), and during the bottom phase (11%), but never during the descent. Slow clicks were not associated with the production of buzzes, other echolocation clicks, or fast maneuvering that would indicate foraging. Some slow clicks were emitted in seemingly repetitive temporal patterns supporting the hypothesis that the function for slow clicks on the feeding grounds is long range communication between males, possibly relaying information about individual identity or behavioral states.
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May 2013
May 06 2013
The function of male sperm whale slow clicks in a high latitude habitat: Communication, echolocation, or prey debilitation?
Cláudia Oliveira;
Cláudia Oliveira
a)
Departamento de Oceanografia e Pescas e Instituto do Mar– Universidade dos Açores
, Horta, Açores, Portugal
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Magnus Wahlberg;
Mark Johnson;
Mark Johnson
Sea Mammal Research Unit, University of St. Andrews
, St. Andrews, United Kingdom
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Patrick J. O. Miller;
Patrick J. O. Miller
Sea Mammal Research Unit, University of St. Andrews
, St. Andrews, United Kingdom
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Peter T. Madsen
Peter T. Madsen
Zoophysiology, Department of Bioscience,
Aarhus University
, Aarhus, Denmark
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a)
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. Also at: Institute of Biology, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark. Electronic mail: [email protected]
b)
Also at: University of Southern Denmark, Kerteminde, Denmark.
J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 133, 3135–3144 (2013)
Article history
Received:
June 18 2012
Accepted:
February 27 2013
Citation
Cláudia Oliveira, Magnus Wahlberg, Mark Johnson, Patrick J. O. Miller, Peter T. Madsen; The function of male sperm whale slow clicks in a high latitude habitat: Communication, echolocation, or prey debilitation?. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 1 May 2013; 133 (5): 3135–3144. https://doi.org/10.1121/1.4795798
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