Formal Comment on Schorr GS, Falcone EA, Moretti DJ, Andrews RD (2014) First Long-Term Behavioral Records from Cuvier's Beaked Whales (Ziphius cavirostris) Reveal Record-Breaking Dives. PLoS ONE 9(3): e92633. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0092633.

Peter L Tyack,Ari Friedlaender,Jeremy Goldbogen,Brandon Southall,John Calambokidis,Andreas Fahlman

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0142287

Abstract

Formal Comment on Schorr GS, Falcone EA, Moretti DJ, Andrews RD (2014) First Long-Term Behavioral Records from Cuvier's Beaked Whales (Ziphius cavirostris) Reveal Record-Breaking Dives. PLoS ONE 9(3): e92633. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0092633.

Highlights

While we commend some of the important new data on beaked whale diving presented in Schorr et al [1], we provide specific comments here because some readers may interpret their findings in ways that may be inappropriate
These include: (1) not adequately appreciating that some of the extreme dives highlighted in the paper were likely response dives; (2) the ways in which the longer-term, lower-resolution tags used by Schorr et al [1] complement rather than replace the utility of controlled exposure experiments using shorter-term high-resolution archival tags; and (3) that these recent findings do not call into question the response dives documented in DeRuiter et al [2]
We suggest that conclusions about effects of sonar on diving behavior in the Schorr et al [1] data set should have waited until the authors complete their analysis of the “subset of this dataset where major sources of acoustic disturbance—or just as importantly, lack thereof–can be accurately documented and independently verified.”

Summary

Introduction

While we commend some of the important new data on beaked whale diving presented in Schorr et al [1], we provide specific comments here because some readers may interpret their findings in ways that may be inappropriate. These include: (1) not adequately appreciating that some of the extreme dives highlighted in the paper were likely response dives; (2) the ways in which the longer-term, lower-resolution tags used by Schorr et al [1] complement rather than replace the utility of controlled exposure experiments using shorter-term high-resolution archival tags; and (3) that these recent findings do not call into question the response dives documented in DeRuiter et al [2].

Results

Conclusion