playbacks on sperm whales behaviour S ea M ammal Charlotte Cur R - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Effects of sonar and killer whale sounds playbacks on sperm whales’ behaviour

P a t r i c k M i l l e r ‘ s L a b // U n i v e r s i t y o f S t - A n d r e w s // S c o t l a n d

Sea Mammal Research Unit

University

• f

St Andrews

Charlotte Curé cc201@st-andrews.ac.uk

Rencontre SFA // Strasbourg // 3 décembre 2013

Ocean anthropogenic noise = acoustic pollution for many aquatic animals like cetaceans.

I n t r o d u c t i o n Ship noise Oil drilling platform Naval sonar Ocean mapping Fishing boat

Sonar sounds

Frequency (kHz) Time (s) Pilot whale vocalizations Sonar LFAS 0.4 12 I n t r o d u c t i o n 1 2

Naval sonar : long and loud exposure, in the frequency range of cetaceans’ sounds.

Effects on : - Physiology

• Behaviour

echolocation/acoustic communication : essential for surviving

3S project: investigate and quantify the potential disturbance effects of naval sonar on cetaceans’ behaviour.

Animals have evolved anti predator behaviours and this adaptation may influence how they respond to other potential threats (Frid A. and Dill. L. 2002, 2007).

Sonar exposure (LFAS/MFAS) Interpretation

• f the

behavioural changes? Why KW playbacks? Predator vocalizations (Killer Whale playbacks) Reactions of cetaceans = model of disturbance

Hypothesis: the behavioural changes induced by sonar is similar to a stress triggered by predation risk.

Field work in the North Atlantic

Spitzberg Jan Mayen Lofoten

May-July

Sperm whale

Studied species

(Globicephala melas)

Long-finned pilot whale

(Physeter macrocephalus)

Humpback whale

(Megaptera novaeangliae)

Minke whale

(Balaenoptera acutorostrata) (Hyperoodon ampullatus)

Northern bottlenose whale

Non invasive Dtag attachment : use of suction cups. Motor boat deployed for tagging

• perations

D-tag with suction cups

Silicon suction cup

Methods

How to measure the behaviour of cetaceans?

Hand held Pole Air gun

Tagging method

Playback (15 min) Broad band noise

Tagging and post-tagging Baseline

Data collection

Tag recovery Playback experiments

Playback (15 min) Killer whale sounds Silence 15-30 min

8m 8m

140-155dB 140-155dB

P r o t o c o l Sonar exposure followed by a recovery period M a t e r i a l a n d M e t h o d s

Results: behavioural changes of sperm whales in response to killer whale sounds playbacks

Sperm whale

(Physeter macrocephalus)

Pressure sensor

Acoustic recordings

VHF transmitter Hydrophones

D-TAG Dive profile

1/

90% time: performing foraging dives 10% time: resting dives Observations of the animal at each surfacing to assess:

• Horizontal movements
• Social behaviour

1/ Results of the dive profile

100 200 300 400 500

1 2 Time (h) Depth (m)

Noise KW

Dive profile of one tagged whale

Duration Max depth

100 200 300 400 500

ctrl noise

• rca

KW Noise ctrl

5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40

ctrl noise

• rca

KW Noise ctrl

Duration of the dives (min) Max depth of the dives (m)

* *

ns ns Moyenne sur 5 individus

• Killer whale playbacks induced

shorter and shallower dives.

Interruption

• f the dive

Curé et al. 2013 (Scientific Reports (3) : 1579)

Results: behavioural changes of sperm whales in response to killer whale sounds playbacks Pressure sensor

Acoustic recordings

VHF transmitter Hydrophones

D-TAG Dive profile

1/

Observations of the animal at each surfacing to assess:

• Horizontal movements
• Social behaviour

2/

Sperm whale

(Physeter macrocephalus)

90% time: performing foraging dives 10% time: resting dives

100 200 300 400 500

1 2 Time (h) Depth (m)

Noise KW Absence d’émission Durée

Frequency (kHz) Time (s) 15

15

Clicks Buzz

Vocalizations produced during foraging dives:

Dive profile +vocalizations of one tagged whale

2/ Results of the acoustic recordings

Curé et al. 2013 (Scientific Reports (3) : 1579)

20 40 60 80 100

1 2 3

Clicking time per dive (%) KW Noise ctrl

*

ns

2 4 6 8

ctrl bruit

• rque

Number of buzzes per dive

*

ns

Mean ± sem, N= 5 tagged whales

Curé et al. 2013 (Scientific Reports (3) : 1579)

2/ Results of the acoustic recordings

• Clicking activity and number of buzzes were significantly

lower during KW playbacks compared to baseline .

KW Noise ctrl

Results: behavioural changes of sperm whales in response to killer whale sounds playbacks Pressure sensor

Acoustic recordings

VHF transmitter Hydrophones

D-TAG Dive profile

1/

Observations of the animal at each surfacing to assess:

• Social behaviour
• Horizontal movements

2/ 3/

Sperm whale

(Physeter macrocephalus)

90% time: performing foraging dives 10% time: resting dives

Dive profile of tagged whale sw10_150a

• At each surfacing phase, we collected the group size.

Noise KW

3a/ Results : social behaviour

Dive profile of tagged whale sw10_150a Noise KW

Range of group size

Noise

3a/ Results : social behaviour

Curé et al. 2013 (Scientific Reports (3) : 1579)

Model of disturbance in sperm whales:

• Killer whale playbacks specifically modify cetaceans’ behaviour.
• Comparison to reactions to sonar:

reactions to KW playbacks and to sonar are concordant. Reactions to sonar are less consistent among inviduals than reactions to K playbacks.

C o n c l u s i o n

Abnormal feeding dive Change in vocal production

KILLER WHALE PLAYBACKS

+ +

SONAR EXPOSURE

+ +

Noise PLAYBACKS

_ _

The behavioural changes triggered by sonar are similar to a stress induced by predation risk

3S Project partners :

Norwegian Animal Research Authority (Permit No. 20607 and 61201). St Andrews Animal Welfare and Ethics Committee (AWEC) . WHOI’s Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC).

Research Fundings :

Direction Générale de l’Armement

Charlotte Curé’ s post-doc fundings and institutions :