Source levels of fin whale 20 Hz pulses measured in the Northeast Pacific Ocean

Abstract

Source levels of fin whale calls can be used to determine range to recorded vocalizations and to model maximum communication range between animals. In this study, source levels of fin whale calls were estimated using data collected on a network of eight ocean bottom seismometers in the Northeast Pacific Ocean. The acoustic pressure levels measured at the instruments were adjusted for the propagation path between the calling whales and the instruments using the call location and estimating losses along the acoustic travel path. A total of 1241 calls were used to estimate an average source level of 189 ± 5.8 dB re 1μPa at 1 m. This variability is largely attributed to uncertainties in the horizontal and vertical position of the fin whale at the time of each call and the effect of these uncertainties on subsequent calculations. Variability may also arise from station to station differences within the network. For call sequences produced by a single vocalizing whale, no consistent increase or decrease in source level was observed over the duration of a dive. Calls within these sequences that immediately followed gaps of 27 s or longer were classified as backbeat calls and were consistently lower in both frequency and amplitude.