An investigation of the roles of geomagnetic and acoustic cues in whale navigation and orientation
Citable URI
https://hdl.handle.net/1912/6071Location
HawaiiAlaska
DOI
10.1575/1912/6071Keyword
Navigation; Animal orientationAbstract
Many species of whales migrate annually between high-latitude feeding grounds and
low-latitude breeding grounds. Yet, very little is known about how these animals navigate
during these migrations. This thesis takes a first look at the roles of geomagnetic and acoustic
cues in humpback whale navigation and orientation, in addition to documenting some effects of
human-produced sound on beaked whales.
The tracks of satellite-tagged humpback whales migrating from Hawaii to Alaska were
found to have systematic deviations from the most direct route to their destination. For each
whale, a migration track was modeled using only geomagnetic inclination and intensity as
navigation cues. The directions in which the observed and modeled tracks deviated from the
direct route were compared and found to match for 7 out of 9 tracks, which suggests that
migrating humpback whales may use geomagnetic cues for navigation. Additionally, in all cases
the observed tracks followed a more direct route to the destination than the modeled tracks,
indicating that the whales are likely using additional navigational cues to improve their routes.
There is a significant amount of sound available in the ocean to aid in navigation and
orientation of a migrating whale. This research investigates the possibility that humpback
whales migrating near-shore listen to sounds of snapping shrimp to detect the presence of
obstacles, such as rocky islands. A visual tracking study was used, together with hydrophone
recordings near a rocky island, to determine whether the whales initiated an avoidance reaction
at distances that varied with the acoustic detection range of the island. No avoidance reaction
was found. Propagation modeling of the snapping shrimp sounds suggested that the detection
range of the island was beyond the visual limit of the survey, indicating that snapping shrimp
sounds may be suited as a long-range indicator of a rocky island.
Lastly, this thesis identifies a prolonged avoidance reaction of a Blainville's beaked whale
to playbacks of Navy mid-frequency active sonar and orca predation calls. Navy sonar exercises
have been linked to beaked whale strandings, and identifying whether these are the result of a
mistaken predator avoidance reaction may help prevent future strandings.
Description
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution June 2013
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Suggested Citation
Thesis: Allen, Ann N., "An investigation of the roles of geomagnetic and acoustic cues in whale navigation and orientation", 2013-06, DOI:10.1575/1912/6071, https://hdl.handle.net/1912/6071Related items
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