Advisor: Christopher Clark Start Date:
Fall 2004
North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis) acoustic behavior and feeding in Cape Cod Bay, Massachusetts
The North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis) is an extremely endangered species, with the population numbering approximately 350 individuals (Clapham et al. 1999). My Ph.D. research focuses on increasing scientific understanding of right whale communication; specifically, how long-range communication is affected by ambient noise conditions. Preliminary analyses of acoustic, food quality, and behavioral data sets suggest that right whales may also use sound to facilitate feeding (C. Clark, pers. comm.; C. Mayo, pers. comm.; Lowry 1993; Winn et al. 1995). Due to the right whales use of sound for life-sustaining activities, the working assumption is that acoustic communication is essential to the population’s survival. However, during the past fifty years, increases in anthropogenic sound in the Western North Atlantic have possibly reduced the area over which right whales communicate off coastal U.S. waters to as little as 10% of the area over which whales could communicate 100 years ago (Clark et al. 2007). The objective of my research is to determine if right whales use acoustics to facilitate feeding. My research focuses on right whale activity in Cape Cod Bay (CCB) from January through May. With an improved understanding of the relationship between acoustic behaviors and feeding, scientists will better understand and therefore more reliably predict the anthropogenic activities that interfere with right whale activities necessary for survival.
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