Subject: abstract - blue whale vocalizations (fwd)

Michael Williamson (pita@whale.simmons.edu)
Thu, 1 May 1997 09:51:24 -0400 (EDT) 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
J. Michael Williamson
   Principal Investigator-WhaleNet <http://whale.wheelock.edu>
   Associate Professor-Science
   Wheelock College, 200 The Riverway, Boston, MA 02215
voice: 617.734.5200, ext. 256
fax:    617.734.8666, or 617.566.7369
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---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 30 Apr 1997 08:04:25 -0400
From: Dagmar Fertl <Dagmar_Fertl@mms.gov>
Reply-To: Marine Mammals Research and Conservation Discussion
     <MARMAM@UVVM.UVIC.CA>
To: MARMAM@UVVM.UVIC.CA
Subject: abstract - blue whale vocalizations

     On behalf of a request made by the Marmam editors, I am posting
     abstracts for the lastest issue of Marine Mammal Science.  This is
     being cross-posted as well to the ECS mailbase.  I have included the
     mailing address of the author to whom inquiries should be directed,
     please do not send the mail to me.

     Dagmar.Fertl@mms.gov

     ********************************************************************
     Rivers, J.A.  1997.  Blue whale, _Balaenoptera musculus_,
     vocalizations from the waters off central California.  Marine Mammal
     Science 13(2): 186-195.

     P.O. Box 28861, Bellingham, Washington 98228

     Low-frequency calls produced by blue whales, _Balaenoptera musculus_,
     were recorded in the northeastern Pacific Ocean off central
     California.  Two blue whales were sighted during a vessel-based marine
     mammal survey, and when sonobuoys were subsequently deployed, blue
     whale calls were recorded.  A third recording was obtained during that
     survey from a blue whale that was not seen.  Recordings with 15, 25,
     and 55 min of calls were obtained from these individuals.  The three
     recordings all contain two-part, low-frequency calls with slight
     interindividual variation.  The calls consist of an amplitude
     modulated (AM) signal with a mean center frequency of 16.5 Hz,
     followed by a downsweep whose mean center frequency sweeps from 18.2
     Hz to 16.6 Hz.  The recordings were compared with blue whale
     recordings from the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.  The geographic
     variability suggests that blue whale calls may be used as an acoustic
     indicator of stock identity.