Acoustic Ecology of Minke Whales.

Abstract

Calls of minke whales, Balaenoptera acutorostrata, off the coast of NE Australia in July of 1997 were recorded utilizing a newly described population, where minke whales maintain long contacts with vessels. Recordings were made in the presence of minke whales aboard the vessel "Undersea Explorer" using a calibrated, two dimensional hydrophone array. Over four-weeks, we encountered 61 minke whales and had extended (up to 11 hours/encounter), close contacts occurring with the majority. We recorded over 21 hours in the direct presence of at least 45 animals. The high density of inquisitive minke whales at the Great Barrier Reef offers an unique opportunity to study their acoustic ecology.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jul 30, 1998
Accession Number
ADA365294

Entities

People

  • Daniel P. Costa

Organizations

  • University of California, Santa Cruz

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Ground and Sea Platforms

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Abstracts
  • Acoustic Phenomena
  • Acoustics
  • Australia
  • Bioacoustics
  • Classification
  • High Density
  • Hydrophones
  • Information Operations
  • Military Research
  • Observation
  • Pilot Studies
  • Security
  • Two Dimensional
  • Vocalization

Fields of Study

  • Environmental science

Readers

  • Marine Mammal Biology