Application of long-term passive acoustic monitoring to evaluate spatial and temporal patterns of multi-species acoustic assemblages of marine mammals in the western North Atlantic Ocean

• DOI: 10.1121/10.0015422
• Publication Date: 2022-11-28T16:07:56Z
• Authors: Samara Haver; Peter Corkeron; Simone Baumann-Pi...; Danielle Cholewiak; Genevieve Davis; Annamaria DeAngelis; Kait Frasier; Molly Martin; Nicole Pegg; Natalie Posdaljian; Macey Rafter; Clara Schoenbeck; Alba Solsona Berga; Annabel Westell; Sofie Van Parijs
• Keywords: Marine mammal; Beaked whale; Mammal; Bioacoustics

Passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) is an efficient method for large-scale marine mammal monitoring. PAM technologies concurrently sample multiple soniferous species, and when coupled with verified detectors, provide information that can be used to evaluate community composition. This analysis data collected by array of high-frequency recorders at eight sites between 30°0’N 42°0’N along the shelf-break in western North Atlantic Ocean. Daily presence 13 known species grouped unknown odontocetes was determined all months June 2016 May 2019. Classification trees were generated from monthly summaries daily detections identify composition dissimilarities. Detections Gervais’s beaked whale (Mesoplodon europaeus) represented root node split latitude, grouping three south 34°0’N five north 38°0’N. Tree nodes further divided other odontocetes. The mysticetes also varied site season. Distinctive communities identified each site, being resident more migratory. secondary splits driven demonstrating importance identifying these whales instead aggregating them as common visual survey data.