The acoustic repertoire of the Southern right whale, a quantitative analysis

Abstract Some 1274 southern right whale sounds were randomly selected and each sound was described by 10 acoustic variables. Two hundred and fifty of these sounds were also ‘labelled’ by the activity, size and sexual composition o the group producing them. Principal components analysis was performed on all the sounds' variables (1274×10) and on the variables for a subset of 823 sounds referred to as calls. Results of the principal components analyses indicate that the sounds can be divided into three major classes: blow sounds, slaps, and calls; and that the repertoire of calls is a continuum with certain types more common than others. The distribution of the ‘labelled’ sounds in the principal components analyses patterns revealed general associations between whale activities and the types of sounds produced.

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