EVALUATING THE ROLE OF SONG IN THE HUMPBACK WHALE (MEGAPTERA NOVAEANGLIAE) BREEDING SYSTEM WITH RESPECT TO INTRA-SEXUAL INTERACTIONS

Vocal activity levels of many terrestrial species vary with diel light cycles. Recent studies have documented this pattern for a number of marine mammal species as well. However, previous studies of humpback whale singing behavior in the breeding areas provide equivocal evidence as to whether males of this species exhibit a diel pattern in vocal activity. The current study employed an array of four autonomous seafloor recorders to record continuously for 35 days in 2004, during the winter breeding season of humpback whales off Isla Socorro, México. The number of singers (from 0 to 4 or more) was quantified for the first 10 minutes of each hour for the entire recording period. Mean RMS sound pressure levels were also measured for the first 4 minutes of every half hour for 17 days (5 21 March) on two recording units. Data were then grouped into three light levels (Dark, Light, Twilight). We rejected the null hypothesis that the mean number of males singing during each light level is equal (p<0.0001), and found significantly higher numbers of males singing during Dark and Twilight than during Daylight. Similarly, the null hypothesis of equal mean RMS levels for each light level was rejected as well (p=0.0308), with significantly higher RMS levels during nighttime (Dark) hours. Mean RMS sound levels increased an average of 3.3 dB per additional singer. There was a significant decrease in the average number of singers per day over the 35 days, but the diel trend in singing

[1]  P. Tyack,et al.  Interactions between singing Hawaiian humpback whales and conspecifics nearby , 1981, Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology.

[2]  S. Parks.  Acoustic communication in the North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis) , 2003 .

[3]  Christopher W. Clark,et al.  SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION, HABITAT UTILIZATION, AND SOCIAL INTERACTIONS OF HUMPBACK WHALES, MEGAPTERA NOVAEANGLIAE, OFF HAWAI'I, DETERMINED USING ACOUSTIC AND VISUAL TECHNIQUES , 1995 .

[4]  K. Balcomb,et al.  Population size of humpback whale, Megaptera novaeangliae, in waters off the Pacific coast of Mexico , 1999 .

[5]  Christopher W. Clark,et al.  Effect of anthropogenic low‐frequency noise on the foraging ecology of Balaenoptera whales , 2001 .

[6]  T. Geissmann.  Duet‐splitting and the evolution of gibbon songs , 2002, Biological Reviews of The Cambridge Philosophical Society.

[7]  Christopher G. Fox,et al.  Diel variation in blue whale calls recorded in the eastern tropical Pacific , 2005, Animal Behaviour.

[8]  John M. McNamara,et al.  Song, starvation, sexual selection and strategic handicaps , 1992 .

[9]  Jill M. Trainer.  Cultural Evolution in Song Dialects of Yellow‐rumped Caciques in Panama , 2010 .

[10]  C. Clark,et al.  Acoustic monitoring on a humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) feeding ground shows continual singing into late spring , 2004, Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences.

[11]  P. Racey,et al.  Species-specificity and individual variation in the song of male Nathusius’ pipistrelles (Pipistrellus nathusii) , 2007, Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology.

[12]  Robert D. McCauley,et al.  Geograpmc Variation in South Pacific Humpback Whale Songs , 1998 .

[13]  C. Hartshorne.  The Monotony-Threshold in Singing Birds , 1956 .

[14]  S. Vehrencamp,et al.  Song types and their structural features are associated with specific contexts in the banded wren , 2005, Animal Behaviour.

[15]  M. Naguib,et al.  Vocal Interactions in Birds: The Use of Song as a Model in Communication , 2000 .

[16]  W. Au,et al.  Prey dynamics affect foraging by a pelagic predator (Stenella longirostris) over a range of spatial and temporal scales , 2003, Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology.

[17]  SINGING COMPLEXITY OF THE BANDED WREN (THRYOTHORUS PLEUROSTICTUS): DO SWITCHING RATE AND SONG-TYPE DIVERSITY SEND DIFFERENT MESSAGES? , 2006 .

[18]  J. Mitani,et al.  Male Gibbon (Hylobates agilis) Singing Behavior: Natural History, Song Variations and Function , 2010 .

[19]  Thomas F. Norris,et al.  Temporal and geographical variation in songs of humpback whales, Megaptera novaeangliae: synchronous change in Hawaiian and Mexican breeding assemblages , 2001, Animal Behaviour.

[20]  R. E. Lemon,et al.  Dynamics of Territorial Singing Between Neighboring Song Sparrows (Melospiza Melodia) , 1983 .

[21]  P. Tyack,et al.  Differential response of humpback whales, Megaptera novaeangliae, to playback of song or social sounds , 1983, Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology.

[22]  P. Thompson,et al.  Geographical variation in temporal and spatial vocalization patterns of male harbour seals in the mating season , 1999, Animal Behaviour.

[23]  Song versatility and social context in the Bobolink , 1999 .

[24]  Hal Whitehead,et al.  Identification of Humpback Whales by Fluke Photographs , 1979 .

[25]  P. Clapham.  The social and reproductive biology of Humpback Whales: an ecological perspective , 1996 .

[26]  C W Clark,et al.  Sound Playback Experiments with Southern Right Whales (Eubalaena australis) , 1980, Science.

[27]  E. Mercado,et al.  A sonar model for humpback whale song , 2000, IEEE Journal of Oceanic Engineering.

[28]  E. Jensen,et al.  Reproduction, growth and development in captive beluga (Delphinapterus leucas) , 2005 .

[29]  L. M. Herman,et al.  Responses of wintering humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) to playback of recordings of winter and summer vocalizations and of synthetic sound , 1988, Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology.

[30]  M. Bérubé,et al.  INTERACTIONS OF SINGING HUMPBACK WHALES WITH OTHER MALES , 2001 .

[31]  R. B. Payne.  Behavioral Continuity and Change in Local Song Populations of Village Indigobirds Vidua chalybeate , 1985 .

[32]  P. Clapham,et al.  HUMPBACK WHALE SONGS AS INDICATORS OF MIGRATION ROUTES , 1990 .

[33]  H. E. Winn,et al.  The song of the humpback whale Megaptera novaeangliae in the West Indies , 1978 .

[34]  S. Vehrencamp.  Is song–type matching a conventional signal of aggressive intentions? , 2001, Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences.

[35]  S. Vehrencamp,et al.  Neighbour recognition by resident males in the banded wren, Thryothorus pleurostictus, a tropical songbird with high song type sharing , 2001, Animal Behaviour.

[36]  John R. Krebs,et al.  Song matching in the great tit Parus major L. , 1981, Animal Behaviour.

[37]  M. Naguib,et al.  Nightingales respond more strongly to vocal leaders of simulated dyadic interactions , 1999, Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences.

[38]  S. Vehrencamp,et al.  Responses of song sparrows to song-type matching via interactive playback , 1995, Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology.

[39]  P. Slater,et al.  Bird Song: Biological Themes and Variations , 1995 .

[40]  D. Merriwether,et al.  Paternity in humpback whales, Megaptera novaeangliae: assessing polygyny and skew in male reproductive success , 2005, Animal Behaviour.

[41]  V. Deecke.  Studying Marine Mammal Cognition in the Wild: A Review of Four Decades of Playback Experiments , 2006 .

[42]  R. Drubbel,et al.  On the occurrence of nocturnal and diurnal loud calls, differing in structure and duration, in red howlers (Alouatta seniculus) of French Guyana. , 1993, Folia primatologica; international journal of primatology.

[43]  J. Darling,et al.  Humpback whale songs: Do they organize males during the breeding season? , 2006 .

[44]  J. Sweeney,et al.  Estrous cycle characterisation and artificial insemination using frozen-thawed spermatozoa in the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus). , 2005, Reproduction.

[45]  John A. Hildebrand,et al.  Behavioral context of call production by eastern North Pacific blue whales , 2007 .

[46]  W C Cummings,et al.  Sounds and source levels from bowhead whales off Pt. Barrow, Alaska. , 1987, The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.

[47]  Louis M. Herman,et al.  Aggressive behavior between humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) wintering in Hawaiian waters , 1984 .

[48]  M. Andersson,et al.  SEXUAL SELECTION AND THE EVOLUTION OF SONG , 1986 .

[49]  Mark P. Johnson,et al.  Vocalisation rates of the North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis) , 2023, J. Cetacean Res. Manage..

[50]  W. Gilmartin,et al.  Progesterone and estrogens in the pregnant and nonpregnant dolphin, Tursiops truncatus, and the effects of induced ovulation. , 1983, Biology of reproduction.

[51]  S. Vehrencamp,et al.  Repertoire Size, Repertoire Overlap, and Singing Modes in the Banded Wren (Thryothorus Pleurostictus) , 1999 .

[52]  Marc O. Lammers,et al.  SEASONAL AND DIURNAL TRENDS OF CHORUSING HUMPBACK WHALES WINTERING IN WATERS OFF WESTERN MAUI , 2000 .

[53]  J Calambokidis,et al.  The acoustic calls of blue whales off California with gender data. , 2001, The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.

[54]  Behavioral responses of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) to full-scale ATOC signals. , 2000, The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.

[55]  A. Horn,et al.  How western meadowlarks classify their songs: evidence from song matching , 1988, Animal Behaviour.

[56]  P. Slater,et al.  Versatility and continuity in the songs of thrushes Turdus spp. , 2008 .

[57]  C. S. Baker,et al.  Sex identification of humpback whales, Megaptera novaeangliae, on the wintering grounds of the Mexican Pacific Ocean , 1994 .

[58]  D. Kroodsma,et al.  Ecology and evolution of acoustic communication in birds , 1997 .

[59]  G. Wilkinson,et al.  Function of male song in the greater white-lined bat, Saccopteryx bilineata , 2004, Animal Behaviour.

[60]  B. S. Simpson.  Effects of location in territory and distance from neighbours on the use of song repertoires by Carolina wrens , 1985, Animal Behaviour.

[61]  Peter K. McGregor,et al.  The signal value of matched singing in great tits: evidence from interactive playback experiments , 1992, Animal Behaviour.

[62]  R. Payne,et al.  Songs of Humpback Whales , 1971, Science.

[63]  C. Clark,et al.  Variation in humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) song length in relation to low-frequency sound broadcasts. , 2003, The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.