Diverse baleen whale acoustic occurrence around two sub-Antarctic islands: A tale of residents and visitors.

ABSTRACT: Knowledge on the occurrence and behaviour of baleen whales around sub-Antarctic regions is limited, and usually based on short, seasonal sighting research from shore or research vessels and whaling records, neither of which provide accurate and comprehensive year-round perspectives of these animals' ecology. We investigated the seasonal acoustic occurrence and diel vocalizing pattern of baleen whales around the sub-Antarctic Prince Edward Islands (PEIs) using passive acoustic monitoring data from mid-2021 to mid-2023, detecting six distinct baleen whale songs from Antarctic blue whales, Madagascan pygmy blue whales, fin whales, Antarctic minke whales, humpback whales, and sei whales. Antarctic blue and fin whales were detected year-round whereas the other species' songs were detected seaso

SUBMITTER: Shabangu FW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11408682 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature