Fin whales were once abundant in the seas to the southwest of Portugal, but whaling activities decreased their numbers considerably. Acoustic data from ocean bottom seismometers provide an opportunity to detect fin whales from their notes, data that would otherwise be logistically challenging and expensive to obtain. Based on inter-note interval and frequency bandwidth, two acoustic patterns produced by fin whales were detected in the study area: pattern 1, described from fin whales in the Mediterranean Sea, and pattern 2, associated with fin whales from the northeast North Atlantic Ocean (NENA). NENA fin whales travel into the western Mediterranean Sea, but the Mediterranean population has not been documented to travel regularly into the NENA. In this study, 11 months of acoustic data recorded southwest of Portugal in the NENA were used to characterize 20-Hz fin whale notes into these patterns. Pattern 2 was the most common and occurred mostly in November–January. Pattern 1 occurred less frequently and mostly in September–December, February and April, which suggested a limited excursion of whales from the Mediterranean Sea. There were also occasions when the two patterns were recorded simultaneously. Results suggest that fin whales from the NENA and Mediterranean Sea might mix in the area during part of the year.
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April 2020
April 15 2020
Fin whale acoustic presence and song characteristics in seas to the southwest of Portugal
Andreia Pereira
;
Andreia Pereira
a)
1Instituto Dom Luiz,
Faculty of Sciences of University of Lisbon
, Campo Grande Edifício C1, Piso 1, Lisbon, 1749-016, Portugal
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Danielle Harris;
Danielle Harris
2
Centre for Research into Ecological and Environmental Modelling, The Observatory, Buchanan Gardens, University of Saint Andrews
, Saint Andrews, Fife KY16 9LZ, Scotland, United Kingdom
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Peter Tyack;
Peter Tyack
3
Sea Mammal Research Unit, Scottish Oceans Institute, University of Saint Andrews
, Saint Andrews Fife KY16 8LB, United Kingdom
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Luis Matias
Luis Matias
1Instituto Dom Luiz,
Faculty of Sciences of University of Lisbon
, Campo Grande Edifício C1, Piso 1, Lisbon, 1749-016, Portugal
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a)
Electronic mail: afpereira@fc.ul.pt, ORCID: 0000-0002-5368-5707.
J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 147, 2235–2249 (2020)
Article history
Received:
August 05 2019
Accepted:
March 21 2020
Citation
Andreia Pereira, Danielle Harris, Peter Tyack, Luis Matias; Fin whale acoustic presence and song characteristics in seas to the southwest of Portugal. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 1 April 2020; 147 (4): 2235–2249. https://doi.org/10.1121/10.0001066
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