Acoustics and Communication Flashcards
What are some modes of communication?
- Chemical
- Electrical
- Tactile
- Visual
- Acoustic
What are some reasons why marine mammals produce and recieve sound?
- Echolocation and passive listening
- Communication and social interaction
Define communication
The sharing of information between individual animals
What are the two steps involved in communication?
- Communication signal produced by a sender
- The signal is transmitted to and imparts information to a receiver
Describe sound production in odontocetes
- Echolocation clicks: produced by the MLDB
- Whistles: produced by the larynx
Describe sound production in Mysticetes
Low frequency pulses: produced by the larynx
Describe sound production in Pinnipeds
- Produce sounds in air and underwater
- Sounds are produced in the larynx
Describe sound production in Sirenians
Sounds are produced in the larynx
What are the costs and benefits of communication?
- Neutral: benefit to both the sender and receiver
- Manipulation: benefit to the sender at the cost of the receiver (ex: deception)
- Eavesdropping: benefit to the receiver at the cost of the sender (ex: interception of the signal by a predator)
Describe Humpback Whale song
- Complex series of repeating units, phrases and themes
- Frequencies = within human range
- Can last up to 20 minutes
- Change dramatically over time
Old themes are not reused
Do Humpback Whale songs convey complex information?
- No!
- All whales located in the same vicinity sing similar songs
- This is the equivalent of people gathered in a room saying the exact same word or phrase (no important information is conveyed)
What are Humpback Whale songs used for if they do not convey complex information?
- Reproductive advertisement
- Songs are primarily produced by males
- Produced mostly on breeding grounds (to attract females)
- Correlation with male-male interactions
- Changes over time are matched by all males (ex: if a new male enters a breeding population with a new song, the other males in the breeding population will adopt the same song (why))
Describe Fin whale sounds
- Low frequency
- Can travel long distances (theoretically)
- SOFAR channel
What is the SOFAR channel
- The ocean consists of different layers (due to salinity and temperature)
- Sound emitted at a certain depth bounces between these various layers and can travel for hundreds of miles
- The speed of sound reaches a minimum velocity at around 600-1200 meters (this layer = SOFAR channel). In this layer the effects of temperature, water salinity, and pressure combine to produce the best conditions for sound transmission.
- Sound waves naturally bend towards layers of lower sound velocity (stay within the SOFAR channel)
- Loud low frequency noises made at this depth can theoretically be detected for thousands of kilometers (because they bend in the SOFAR channel)
Do Fin Whale sounds convey important information?
- No!
- Sounds traveling over immense distances are unlikely to be of biological importance
- Sounds are likely used in reproduction