Characterizing dusky dolphin sounds from Argentina and New Zealand

Abstract

Dusky dolphin (Lagenorhynchus obscurus) acoustic sounds were characterized by analyzing narrowband recordings [0-16 kHz in New Zealand (NZ) and 0-24 kHz in Argentina], and sounds in broadband recordings (0-200 kHz) were compared to their counterparts in down-sampled narrowband recordings (0-16 kHz). The most robust similarity between sounds present in broadband recordings and their counterparts in the down-sampled narrowband recordings was inter-click interval (ICI); ICI was therefore primarily used to characterize click sounds in narrowband recordings. In NZ and Argentina, distribution of ICIs was a continuum, although the distribution of ICIs in NZ had a somewhat bimodal tendency. In NZ, sounds that had smaller mean ICIs were more likely to have constant ICIs, and less likely to have increasing or decreasing ICIs. Similar to some other delphinids, dusky dolphins may use single, short duration sounds that have a constant ICI and closely spaced clicks for communication. No whistles were documented at either study site. Temporally structured sequences of burst pulses (i.e., sounds with ICI < about 10 ms) also occurred at both study sites, and these sequences contained 2-14 burst pulses that appeared closely matched aurally and in spectrograms and waveforms.