Several groups of Sowerby's beaked whales (Mesoplodon bidens) were encountered on July 4, 2011, during a shipboard cetacean survey conducted off the eastern seaboard of the United States. Acoustic recordings were collected using a three-element towed hydrophone array. Many echolocation clicks were recorded during the encounter, but no tonal sounds were detected. A total of 2969 echolocation clicks were included in analyses of frequency and temporal characteristics. A Gaussian mixture model with four mixtures was fitted to the histogram of peak frequencies; four subsets of clicks were designated. The majority of clicks (n = 2048) contained a median peak frequency of 33 kHz, while the others contained a median peak frequency of 25 kHz (n = 324), 51 kHz (n = 304), or 67 kHz (n = 293). Most clicks did not contain a clear frequency-modulated upsweep, though some clicks exhibited a slight sweep from 30–36 kHz. Seven burst pulses were detected in the encounter, two of which were of high enough quality for detailed analysis. The acoustic characteristics of Sowerby's beaked whales have not previously been described; the current study will facilitate incorporation of these data into passive acoustic monitoring programs in the North Atlantic Ocean.

4.
Baumann-Pickering
,
S.
,
McDonald
,
M. A.
,
Simonis
,
A. E.
,
Solsona Berga
,
A.
,
Merkens
,
K. P. B.
,
Oleson
,
E. M.
,
Roch
,
M. A.
,
Wiggins
,
S. M.
,
Rankin
,
S.
,
Yack
,
T. M.
, and
Hildebrand
,
J. A.
(
2013c
). “
Species-specific beaked whale echolocation signals
,”
J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
134
,
2293
2301
.
2.
Baumann-Pickering
,
S.
,
Simonis
,
A.
,
Wiggins
,
S. M.
,
Brownell
,
R.
, and
Hildebrand
,
J. A.
(
2013a
). “
Aleutian Islands beaked whale echolocation signals
,”
Marine Mammal Sci.
29
,
221
227
.
1.
Baumann-Pickering
,
S.
,
Wiggins
,
S. M.
,
Roth
,
E. H.
,
Roch
,
M. A.
,
Schnitzler
,
H.-U.
, and
Hildebrand
,
J. A.
(
2010
). “
Echolocation signals of a beaked whale at Palmyra Atoll
,”
J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
127
,
3790
3799
.
3.
Baumann-Pickering
,
S.
,
Yack
,
T. M.
,
Barlow
,
J.
,
Wiggins
,
S. M.
, and
Hildebrand
,
J. A.
(
2013b
) “
Baird's beaked whale echolocation signals
,”
J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
133
,
4321
4331
.
5.
Caldwell
,
M. C.
, and
Caldwell
,
D. K.
(
1991
). “
A note describing sounds recorded from two Cetacean Species, Kogia breviceps and Mesoplodon europaeus, stranded in Northeastern Florida
,” NOAA technical reports, National Marine Fisheries Service, Vol. 98, pp. 151–154.
6.
Carlström
,
J.
,
Denkinger
,
J.
,
Feddersen
,
P.
, and
Øien
,
N.
(
1997
). “
Record of a new northern range of Sowerby's beaked whale (Mesoplodon bidens)
,”
Polar Biol.
17
,
459
461
.
7.
Charif
,
R. A.
,
Clark
,
C. W.
, and
Fristrup
,
K. M.
(
2004
).
Raven 1.2 User's Manual
(
Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology
,
Ithaca, New York
).
8.
Christensen
,
I.
(
1977
). “
Observations of whales in the North Atlantic
,” reports of the International Whaling Commission, Vol. 27, pp. 388–399.
9.
Dawson
,
S.
,
Barlow
,
J.
, and
Ljungblad
,
D.
(
1998
). “
Sounds recorded from Baird's beaked whale, Berardius Bairdii
,”
Marine Mammal Sci.
14
,
335
344
.
10.
Gillespie
,
D.
,
Dunn
,
C.
,
Gordon
,
J.
,
Claridge
,
D.
,
Embling
,
C.
, and
Boyd
,
I.
(
2009
). “
Field recordings of Gervais' beaked whales Mesoplodon europaeus from the Bahamas
,”
J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
125
,
3428
3433
.
12.
Hooker
,
S. K.
, and
Baird
,
R. W.
(
1999
). “
Observations of Sowerby's beaked whales, Mesoplodon bidens, in the Gully, Nova Scotia
,”
Can. Field Nat.
113
,
273
277
.
11.
Hooker
,
S. K.
, and
Whitehead
,
H.
(
2002
). “
Click characteristics of northern bottlenose whales (Hyperoodon ampullatus)
,”
Marine Mammal Sci.
18
,
69
79
.
13.
Johnson
,
M.
,
Madsen
,
P. T.
,
Zimmer
,
W. M. X.
,
de Soto
,
N. A.
, and
Tyack
,
P. L.
(
2006
). “
Foraging Blainville's beaked whales (Mesoplodon densirostris) produce distinct click types matched to different phases of echolocation
,”
J. Exp. Biol.
209
,
5038
5050
.
14.
Kandia
,
V.
, and
Stylianou
,
Y.
(
2006
). “
Detection of sperm whale clicks based on the Teager–Kaiser energy operator
,”
Appl. Acoust.
67
,
1144
1163
.
15.
Lammers
,
M. O.
,
Au
,
W. W. L.
,
Aubauer
,
R.
, and
Nachtigall
,
P. E.
(
2004
). “
A comparative analysis of the pulsed emissions of free-ranging Hawaiian spinner dolphins
,” in
Echolocation in Bats and Dolphins
, edited by
J. A.
Thomas
,
C. F.
Moss
, and
M.
Vater
(
University of Chicago Press
,
Chicago
), pp.
414
419
.
16.
Leatherwood
,
S.
(
1976
). “
Whales, dolphins, and porpoises of the western North Atlantic
,” NOAA technical reports, National Marine Fisheries Service, Vol. 396, pp. 1–183.
17.
Lynn
,
S. K.
, and
Reiss
,
D. L.
(
1992
). “
Pulse sequence and whistle production by two captive beaked whales, Mesoplodon species
,”
Marine Mammal Sci.
8
,
299
305
.
18.
MacLeod
,
C. D.
(
2000
). “
Review of the distribution of Mesoplodon species (order Cetacea, family Ziphiidae) in the North Atlantic
,”
Mammal. Rev.
30
,
1
8
.
19.
MacLeod
,
C. D.
,
Perrin
,
W. F.
,
Pitman
,
R.
,
Barlow
,
J.
,
Ballance
,
L.
,
D'Amico
,
A.
,
Gerrodette
,
T.
,
Joyce
,
G.
,
Mullin
,
K. D.
,
Palka
,
D.
, and
Waring
,
G. T.
(
2006
). “
Known and inferred distributions of beaked whale species (Cetacea: Ziphiidae)
,”
J. Cetac. Res. Manage.
7
,
271
286
.
20.
Marten
,
K.
(
2000
). “
Ultrasonic analysis of pygmy sperm whale (Kogia breviceps) and Hubbs' beaked whale (Mesoplodon carlhubbsi) clicks
,”
Aquat. Mammal.
26
,
45
48
.
21.
McDonald
,
M. A.
,
Hildebrand
,
J. A.
,
Wiggins
,
S. M.
,
Johnston
,
D. W.
, and
Polovina
,
J. J.
(
2009
). “
An acoustic survey of beaked whales at Cross Seamount near Hawaii
,”
J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
125
,
624
627
.
22.
Mead
,
J. G.
(
1989
). “
Beaked Whales of the Genus—Mesoplodon
,” in
River Dolphins and the Larger Toothed Whales, Vol. 4 of Handbook of Marine Mammals
, edited by
S. H.
Ridgway
and
R. J.
Harrison
(
Academic Press
,
San Diego
), Vol.
4
, pp.
349
430
.
23.
Price
,
J. J.
,
Johnson
,
K. P.
, and
Clayton
,
D. H.
(
2004
). “
The evolution of echolocation in swiftlets
,”
J. Avian Biol.
35
,
135
143
.
24.
Rankin
,
S.
, and
Barlow
,
J.
(
2007
). “
Sounds recorded in the presence of Blainville's beaked whales, Mesoplodon densirostris, near Hawai'i
,”
J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
122
,
42
45
.
25.
Rankin
,
S.
,
Baumann-Pickering
,
S.
,
Yack
,
T.
, and
Barlow
,
J.
(
2011
). “
Description of sounds recorded from Longman's beaked whale, Indopacetus pacificus
,”
J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
130
,
EL339
EL344
.
26.
Rogers
,
T. L.
, and
Brown
,
S. M.
(
1999
). “
Acoustic observations of Arnoux's beaked whale (Berardius arnuxii) off Kemp Land, Antarcica
,”
Marine Mammal Sci.
15
,
192
198
.
27.
Smotherman
,
M.
, and
Metzner
,
W.
(
2005
). “
Auditory-feedback control of temporal call patterns in echolocating horseshoe bats
,”
J. Neurophysiol.
93
,
1295
1303
.
28.
Soldevilla
,
M. S.
,
Henderson
,
E. E.
,
Campbell
,
G. S.
,
Wiggins
,
S. M.
,
Hildebrand
,
J. A.
, and
Roch
,
M. A.
(
2008
). “
Classification of Risso's and Pacific white-sided dolphins using spectral properties of echolocation clicks
,”
J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
124
,
609
624
.
29.
Sowerby
,
J.
(
1804
). “
Physeter bidens. Two-toothed Cachalot
,” in
The British Miscellany: Or Coloured Figures of New, Rare and Little Known Animal Subjects
(
Taylor
,
London
), Vol.
1
, pp.
1
2
.
30.
Turl
,
C. W.
, and
Penner
,
R. H.
(
1989
). “
Differences in echolocation click patterns of the beluga (Delphinapterus leucas) and the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus)
,”
J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
86
,
497
502
.
31.
Wahlberg
,
M.
,
Beedholm
,
K.
,
Heerfordt
,
A.
, and
Møhl
,
B.
(
2011
). “
Characteristics of biosonar signals from the northern bottlenose whale, Hyperoodon ampullatus
,”
J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
130
,
3077
3084
.
32.
Waring
,
G. T.
,
Hamazaki
,
T.
,
Sheehan
,
D.
,
Wood
,
G.
, and
Baker
,
S.
(
2001
). “
Characterization of beaked whale (Ziphidae) and sperm whale (Pyseter macrocephalus) summer habitat in shelf-edge and deeper waters of the northeast U.S.
,”
Marine Mammal Sci.
17
,
703
717
.
33.
Waring
,
G. T.
,
Josephson
,
E.
,
Maze-Foley
,
K.
, and
Rosel
,
P. E.
(
2009
). “
Sowerby's beaked whale (Mesoplodon bidens): Western North Atlantic stock
” NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS No. 213, pp.
387
393
.
35.
Wenzel
,
F. W.
,
Polloni
,
P. T.
,
Craddock
,
J. E.
,
Gannon
,
D. P.
,
Nicolas
,
J. R.
,
Read
,
A. J.
, and
Rosel
,
P. E.
(
2013
). “
Food habits of Sowerby’s beaked whales (Mesoplodon bidens) taken in the pelagic gillnet fishery of the western North Atlantic
,”
Fish. Bull.
111
,
381
389
.
34.
Zimmer
,
W. M. X.
,
Johnson
,
M. P.
,
Madsen
,
P. T.
, and
Tyack
,
P. L.
(
2005
). “
Echolocation clicks of free-ranging Cuvier's beaked whales (Ziphius cavirostris)
,”
J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
117
,
3919
3927
.
You do not currently have access to this content.