114
In this chapter we present characterization of acoustic signals produced by nine
different cetacean species obtained form acoustic surveys. The species have species-specific qualities in their whistles and clicks. Acoustic methods can also offer
population size estimates and identification of population structure.
5.1 Introduction
Acoustic technologies have been applied in order to investigate and monitor underwater sound and have promoted achievements on the understanding of animal biology, behavior and ecology. Due to physical characteristic the sound propagation is
favored in the underwater environment and have contributed to evolution of acoustic
features of marine life.
Whales and dolphins are top predators and are known to spend all their lives in
the aquatic environment. As such, they can be considered sentinels of the ocean
since they serve as indicators of the habitat health to which they are part of. Most
importantly is that cetaceans produce sounds, which are unique, compared to other
sounds in the marine environment.
Passive acoustic surveys have become more accessible and widely used to
explore patterns of occurrence, identifying critical habitats (Risch et al. 2014) for
several species of cetaceans and inferring about potential noise impacts over the
populations (Rice et al. 2014; Pirotta et al. 2015). Acoustic methods can also offer
population size estimates that are used to track large-scale displacement patterns
(Mellinger and Barlow 2003) and long term population trends (Evans and Hammond
2004; Magera et al. 2013; Campbell et al. 2015).
The recent expansion in bioacoustics research was possible due to the development of available technologies on autonomous acoustic recorders (Passive Acoustic
Monitoring – PAM), which can be fixed on the sea floor (e.g. Parks et al. 2007;
Cerchio et al. 2001; Darling and Sousa-Lima 2005; Sousa-Lima et al. 2013) or
J. Moron
Laboratório de Ecologia Comportamental e Bioacústica, Departamento de Zoologia, Instituto
de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora, Juiz de Fora, MG, Brazil
Instituto Aqualie, Juiz de Fora, Juiz de Fora, MG, Brazil
B. Ribeiro
Laboratório de Ecologia Comportamental e Bioacústica, Departamento de Zoologia, Instituto
de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora, Juiz de Fora, MG, Brazil
Programa de Pós Graduação em Ciências Biológicas, Comportamento e Biologia Animal,
Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora, Juiz de Fora, MG, Brazil
Instituto Aqualie, Juiz de Fora, Juiz de Fora, MG, Brazil
G. Ramos • R.R. Mendes
Laboratório de Ecologia Comportamental e Bioacústica, Departamento de Zoologia, Instituto
de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora, Juiz de Fora, MG, Brazil
A. Andriolo et al.
In this chapter we present characterization of acoustic signals produced by nine
different cetacean species obtained form acoustic surveys. The species have species-specific qualities in their whistles and clicks. Acoustic methods can also offer
population size estimates and identification of population structure.
5.1 Introduction
Acoustic technologies have been applied in order to investigate and monitor underwater sound and have promoted achievements on the understanding of animal biology, behavior and ecology. Due to physical characteristic the sound propagation is
favored in the underwater environment and have contributed to evolution of acoustic
features of marine life.
Whales and dolphins are top predators and are known to spend all their lives in
the aquatic environment. As such, they can be considered sentinels of the ocean
since they serve as indicators of the habitat health to which they are part of. Most
importantly is that cetaceans produce sounds, which are unique, compared to other
sounds in the marine environment.
Passive acoustic surveys have become more accessible and widely used to
explore patterns of occurrence, identifying critical habitats (Risch et al. 2014) for
several species of cetaceans and inferring about potential noise impacts over the
populations (Rice et al. 2014; Pirotta et al. 2015). Acoustic methods can also offer
population size estimates that are used to track large-scale displacement patterns
(Mellinger and Barlow 2003) and long term population trends (Evans and Hammond
2004; Magera et al. 2013; Campbell et al. 2015).
The recent expansion in bioacoustics research was possible due to the development of available technologies on autonomous acoustic recorders (Passive Acoustic
Monitoring – PAM), which can be fixed on the sea floor (e.g. Parks et al. 2007;
Cerchio et al. 2001; Darling and Sousa-Lima 2005; Sousa-Lima et al. 2013) or
J. Moron
Laboratório de Ecologia Comportamental e Bioacústica, Departamento de Zoologia, Instituto
de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora, Juiz de Fora, MG, Brazil
Instituto Aqualie, Juiz de Fora, Juiz de Fora, MG, Brazil
B. Ribeiro
Laboratório de Ecologia Comportamental e Bioacústica, Departamento de Zoologia, Instituto
de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora, Juiz de Fora, MG, Brazil
Programa de Pós Graduação em Ciências Biológicas, Comportamento e Biologia Animal,
Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora, Juiz de Fora, MG, Brazil
Instituto Aqualie, Juiz de Fora, Juiz de Fora, MG, Brazil
G. Ramos • R.R. Mendes
Laboratório de Ecologia Comportamental e Bioacústica, Departamento de Zoologia, Instituto
de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora, Juiz de Fora, MG, Brazil
A. Andriolo et al.