Blue and fin whales observed on a seafloor array in the northeast pacific.

Calling blue and fin whales have been tracked using relative travel times and amplitudes from both direct and multipath arrivals to a seafloor array of seismometers. Calls of three fin whales swimming in the same general direction, but several kilometers apart, are believed to represent communication between the whales because of signature differences in call character, an alternating call pattern, and coordination of call and respiration times. Whale call tracks, call patterns, call character, and swimming speeds were examined during periods with and without the presence of noise. Noise sources included airguns, when the whales were subject to sound levels of up to 143 dB P-P (peak-to-peak) re: 1 microPa over the 10 to 60-Hz band, and transits of merchant ships, when the whales received continuous levels up to 106 dB rms re: 1 microPa over the 10 to 60-Hz band (115 dB P-P). Whale responses associated with these noises remain arguable.

[1]  Peggy L. Edds,et al.  Vocalizations of the Blue Whale, Balaenoptera musculus, in the St. Lawrence River , 1982 .

[2]  B. Würsig,et al.  Reactions of bowhead whales, Balaena mysticetus, to seismic exploration in the Canadian Beaufort Sea. , 1986, The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.

[3]  J. Northrop,et al.  Underwater 20‐Hz Signals Recorded near Midway Island , 1971 .

[4]  G. M. Wenz.  Acoustic Ambient Noise in the Ocean: Spectra and Sources , 1962 .

[5]  E. Okal,et al.  T-wave duration, magnitudes and seismic moment of an earthquake—application to tsunami warning , 1986 .

[6]  Some unusual low-frequency biological noises underwater , 1965 .

[7]  L. Frazer,et al.  Po/So Synthetics For A Variety of Oceanic Models and Their Implications For the Structure of the Oceanic Lithosphere , 1990 .

[8]  S. H. Johnson,et al.  Sonobuoy array measurements of active faulting on the Gorda Ridge , 1978 .

[9]  P. O. Thompson,et al.  Underwater Sounds from the Blue Whale, Balaenoptera musculus , 1971 .

[10]  C. Clark,et al.  Investigations of the potential effects of underwater noise from petroleum-industry activities on migrating gray-whale behavior. Phase 2: January 1984 migration , 1984 .

[11]  E. Bernard,et al.  Comparison of T‐phase spectra and tsunami amplitudes for tsunamigenic and other earthquakes , 1993 .

[12]  E. Okal,et al.  Seismic detection of underwater volcanism: The example of French Polynesia , 1987 .

[13]  Daniel A. Walker,et al.  T-phase spectra, seismic moments, and tsunamigenesis , 1992 .

[14]  P. O. Thompson,et al.  20‐Hz Signals Observed in the Central Pacific , 1967 .

[15]  William A. Watkins,et al.  Spatial distribution of Physeter catodon (sperm whales) underwater , 1977 .

[16]  Examination of attenuation at very low frequencies using the deep‐water ambient noise field , 1976 .

[17]  P. O. Thompson,et al.  20-Hz pulses and other vocalizations of fin whales, Balaenoptera physalus, in the Gulf of California, Mexico. , 1990, The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.

[18]  Christopher W. Clark,et al.  Bioacoustics of baleen whales: From infrasonics to complex songs , 1993 .

[19]  William A. Watkins,et al.  SENSORY BIOPHYSICS OF MARINE MAMMALS , 1985 .

[20]  J. Macfarlane,et al.  Occurrence and general behavior of balaenopterid cetaceans summering in the St. Lawrence Estuary, Canada , 1987 .

[21]  P. O. Thompson,et al.  Characteristics and seasons of blue and finback whale sounds along the U.S. west coast as recorded at SOSUS stations , 1994 .

[22]  P. O. Thompson,et al.  Underwater sounds of migrating gray whales, Eschrichtius glaucus (Cope). , 1968, The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.

[23]  G. Sutton,et al.  Current-generated noise recorded on ocean bottom seismometers , 1981 .

[24]  C. Frohlich,et al.  Evidence that biological activity affects Ocean Bottom Seismograph recordings , 1981, Marine Geophysical Researches.

[25]  Peggy L. Edds,et al.  CHARACTERISTICS OF FINBACK BALAENOPTERA PHYSALUS VOCALIZATIONS IN THE ST. LAWRENCE ESTUARY , 1988 .

[26]  Michael Weber.  Marine Mammal Protection , 1987 .

[27]  R. W. Bannister.  Deep sound channel noise from high‐latitude winds , 1986 .

[28]  K. Ewans,et al.  Wave–wave interactions, microseisms, and infrasonic ambient noise in the ocean , 1985 .

[29]  James H. Wilson.  Very low‐frequency (VLF) wind‐generated noise produced by turbulent pressure fluctuations in the atmosphere near the ocean surface , 1979 .

[30]  B. Cornuelle,et al.  Seismic structure and anisotropy of the Juan de Fuca Ridge at 45°N , 1994 .

[31]  G. Sutton,et al.  Correlation of deep ocean noise (0.4–30 Hz) with wind, and the Holu Spectrum—A worldwide constant , 1993 .

[32]  C. Frohlich,et al.  Teleseismic b values; Or, much ado about 1.0 , 1993 .

[33]  W. Watkins,et al.  Activities and underwater sounds of fin whales [Balaenoptera physalus] , 1981 .

[34]  D. Hussong,et al.  An ocean bottom seismometer study of shallow seismicity near the Mid‐America Trench offshore Guatemala , 1985 .

[35]  William A. Watkins,et al.  The harmonic interval : fact or artifact in spectral analysis of pulse trains , 1968 .

[36]  D. Webb,et al.  ORIENTATION BY MEANS OF LONG RANGE ACOUSTIC SIGNALING IN BALEEN WHALES * , 1971, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.

[37]  W C Cummings,et al.  Passive acoustic location of bowhead whales in a population census off Point Barrow, Alaska. , 1985, The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.

[39]  Unusual Low‐Frequency Signals Observed in New Zealand Waters , 1967 .

[40]  E. Okal,et al.  The volcanoseismic swarms of 1981–1983 in the Tahiti‐Mehetia Area, French Polynesia , 1984 .

[41]  S. Webb.  The equilibrium oceanic microseism spectrum , 1992 .

[42]  K. E. Moore,et al.  The 20-Hz signals of finback whales (Balaenoptera physalus). , 1987, The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.

[43]  Charles R. Greene,et al.  Reactions of bowhead whales, Balaena mysticetus, to drilling and dredging noise in the Canadian Beaufort sea , 1990 .

[44]  Michael B. Porter,et al.  Computational Ocean Acoustics , 1994 .

[45]  T. C. Whitmore,et al.  Long-term study , 1991, Nature.