Geographic distribution of the Cross Seamount beaked whale based on acoustic detections
Abstract
Beaked whales produce frequency‐modulated echolocation pulses that appear to be species‐specific, allowing passive acoustic monitoring to play a role in understanding spatio‐temporal patterns. The Cross Seamount beaked whale is known only from its unique echolocation signal (BWC) with no confirmed species identification. This beaked whale spans the Pacific Ocean from the Mariana Archipelago to Baja California, Mexico, south to the equator, but only as far north as latitude 29°N. Within these warm waters, 92% of BWC detections occurred at night, 6% during crepuscular periods, and only 2% during daylight hours. Detections of BWC signals on drifting recorders with a vertical hydrophone array at 150 m depth demonstrated that foraging often occurred shallow in the water column (<150 m). No other species of beaked whale to date has been documented foraging in waters this shallow. Given their nocturnal, shallow foraging dives, this species appears to prefer prey that may be available in the water column only during those hours. The foraging behavior of Cross Seamount beaked whales appears to be unique among all beaked whales, and these findings contribute additional ecological and acoustic information which can help guide future efforts to identify this cryptic whale.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Aug 08, 2023
- Source ID
- 10.1111/mms.13061
Entities
People
- Angela R Szesciorka
- David Mellinger
- E. Elizabeth Henderson
- Erin Oleson
- Gabriela C. Alongi
- Holger Klinck
- Jay Barlow
- Jennifer L. K. McCullough
- Jennifer S Trickey
- Roanne Manzano‐Roth
- Selene Fregosi
- Simone Baumann‐Pickering
- Stephen W. Martin
Organizations
- Cornell University
- National Geographic Society
- National Marine Fisheries Service
- National Marine Mammal Foundation
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
- Naval Postgraduate School
- Office of Naval Research
- Oregon State University
- University of California
- University of California, San Diego