Resumen del producto

The blue whale vocalizations have been associated with different foraging behaviors, certain aspects of reproduction, social interaction between dives, among others. In feeding areas, the variation of blue whale B call relative frequencies has been used to identify diel and seasonal calling patterns. Despite efforts to understand the relationship among the blue whale vocalizations, behavior and associated oceanographic variables, there is still much to accomplish, especially in winter areas. The present work focuses on the Gulf of California (GC), a recognized nursing and feeding area for the Northeastern Pacific blue whales. Acoustic data were recorded with seafloor-mounted High Frequency Acoustic Recording Packages (HARPs), located at the entrance of the GC from 2006 to 2007 and in the Midriff Island region from 2008 to 2010. Using a passive acoustic monitoring approach, we process spectrograms with the software package “Triton” written in MATLAB. Blue whale B calls were counted with an automatic detection algorithm selecting the third harmonic and their D calls were manually picked, to obtain the calling rates and types of calls for each area at different time scales: day/night to obtain diel patterns, and monthly to evaluate the blue whale movements in the GC and their possible relationship with oceanographic variables, especially around the two mentioned sites. This is the first attempt to study calling behavior in a winter area of blue whales, contributing to a better understanding of behavioral patterns and their ecological relevance for the conservation of the species.

Palabras clave: Paralarval assemblages; blue whales; vocalization

Para obtener una copia del documento contacta la personal de la biblioteca a través del correo bibliocicimar{a}ipn.mx