408
Keywords Humpback whales • Acoustic ecology • Song behavior • Southwestern
Atlantic Ocean
15.1 Introduction
15.1.1 Ecology and Animal Communication
The most of the acoustic signals are modified when the pass by the environment
since the sender to the receiver, which transforms and depredates this signal, but
even so, results in information to the receiver, as some bird species who can estimate the distance from a sender individual through the signal degradation (McGregor
and Krebs 1984; Naguib 1998).
Furthermore, the environment may shape evolutionary changes which may result
in specific vocal adaptations in close related vertebrate species, and even inside the
same species, leading to differences in sound repertoire which reflect their ecological habits (Podos 2001; Podos et al. 2004).
Dolphins and bats track their environment listening to the echoes which themselves produces, a process called echolocation (eg: Tyack 2000). Thus, in the field of
cetacean communication there are some basic questions that still could be answered,
such as what are the features that make this signal unique. Those questions are crucial to understand whether these signals are elaborated and have their specific usage.
Part of this subject is included in the behavioral ecology context of the present work.
In this work, the behavioral ecology involving an acoustic display, the song, and
the singer males in humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) is explored in their
breeding ground at northeastern Brazilian coast, discussing diverse parameters,
such as singers’ group structure, behavior, distribution and their possible relations
with oceanographic features as depth, tide and moon phases influences on the
humpback whale song inside the breeding season.
15.1.2 Species Characterization
The humpback whale Megaptera novaeangliae (Cetacea, Balaenopteridae)
(Fig. 15.1), is a cosmopolitan species distributed along all the oceans worldwide
(Clapham and Mead 1999), moving every year from high latitude feeding areas,
staying during the autumn and summer, to the breeding areas in the tropics, staying
during the spring and summer (Clapham and Mead 1999). These breeding areas are
typically between islands and/or associated with coral systems (Whitehead 1981;
Whitehead and Moore 1982).
In the feeding and breeding area, the humpback whale present a social organization characterized by unstable and small groups (2–3 animals). However, larger
groups can be found during the feeding behavior or related to the aggressive competition between males during the breeding season (Clapham 1996).
M.R. Rossi-Santos
Keywords Humpback whales • Acoustic ecology • Song behavior • Southwestern
Atlantic Ocean
15.1 Introduction
15.1.1 Ecology and Animal Communication
The most of the acoustic signals are modified when the pass by the environment
since the sender to the receiver, which transforms and depredates this signal, but
even so, results in information to the receiver, as some bird species who can estimate the distance from a sender individual through the signal degradation (McGregor
and Krebs 1984; Naguib 1998).
Furthermore, the environment may shape evolutionary changes which may result
in specific vocal adaptations in close related vertebrate species, and even inside the
same species, leading to differences in sound repertoire which reflect their ecological habits (Podos 2001; Podos et al. 2004).
Dolphins and bats track their environment listening to the echoes which themselves produces, a process called echolocation (eg: Tyack 2000). Thus, in the field of
cetacean communication there are some basic questions that still could be answered,
such as what are the features that make this signal unique. Those questions are crucial to understand whether these signals are elaborated and have their specific usage.
Part of this subject is included in the behavioral ecology context of the present work.
In this work, the behavioral ecology involving an acoustic display, the song, and
the singer males in humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) is explored in their
breeding ground at northeastern Brazilian coast, discussing diverse parameters,
such as singers’ group structure, behavior, distribution and their possible relations
with oceanographic features as depth, tide and moon phases influences on the
humpback whale song inside the breeding season.
15.1.2 Species Characterization
The humpback whale Megaptera novaeangliae (Cetacea, Balaenopteridae)
(Fig. 15.1), is a cosmopolitan species distributed along all the oceans worldwide
(Clapham and Mead 1999), moving every year from high latitude feeding areas,
staying during the autumn and summer, to the breeding areas in the tropics, staying
during the spring and summer (Clapham and Mead 1999). These breeding areas are
typically between islands and/or associated with coral systems (Whitehead 1981;
Whitehead and Moore 1982).
In the feeding and breeding area, the humpback whale present a social organization characterized by unstable and small groups (2–3 animals). However, larger
groups can be found during the feeding behavior or related to the aggressive competition between males during the breeding season (Clapham 1996).
M.R. Rossi-Santos