Under increasing anthropogenic pressure, species with a previously contiguous distribution across their ranges have been reduced to small fragmented populations. The critically endangered Yangtze finless porpoise (Neophocaena asiaeorientalis asiaeorientalis), once commonly observed in the Yangtze River-Poyang Lake junction, is now rarely seen in the river-lake corridor. In this study, static passive acoustic monitoring techniques were used to detect the biosonar activities of the Yangtze finless porpoise in this unique corridor. Generalized linear models were used to examine the correlation between these activities and anthropogenic impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown and boat navigation, as well as environmental variables, including hydrological conditions and light levels. Over approximately three consecutive years of monitoring (2020 2022), porpoise biosonar was detected during 93% of logged days, indicating the key role of the corridor for finless porpoise conservation. In addition, porpoise clicks were recorded in 3.80% of minutes, while feeding correlated buzzes were detected in 1.23% of minutes, suggesting the potential existence of localized, small-scale migration. Furthermore, both anthropogenic and environmental variables were significantly correlated with the diel, lunar, monthly, seasonal, and annual variations in porpoise biosonar activities. During the pandemic lockdown period, porpoise sonar detection showed a significant increase. Furthermore, a significant negative correlation was identified between the detection of porpoise click trains and buzzes and boat traffic intensity. In addition to water level and flux, daylight and moonlight exhibited significant correlations with porpoise biosonar activities, with markedly higher detections at night and quarter moon periods. Ensuring the spatiotemporal reduction of anthropogenic activities, implementing vessel speed restrictions (e.g., during porpoise migration and feeding), and maintaining local natural hydrological regimes are critical factors for sustaining porpoise population viability.

Ships unintentionally radiate underwater noise mainly due to propeller cavitation under usual operations. In 2022, the International Maritime Organization started a review of the nonmandatory guidelines for the reduction of underwater radiated noise (URN) from ships. The characteristics of URN from ships have been studied for a long time, and quantitative variations in URN levels with ship size and speed have been reported. From the viewpoint of ship design, it is more reasonable that the effect of ship speed and draft is considered as the ratio to design speed and maximum draft, respectively. Therefore, in this study, underwater sound measurements were conducted in deep water (>300 m in depth) under a sea lane, and regression analysis was applied to the source levels of the URN from many merchant ships using ship length, ship speed ratio to design speed, and draft ratio to maximum draft. In this analysis, the source level is simplified based on the characteristics of URN due to propeller cavitation. This allows one coefficient to represent the approximate shape of the spectrum of URN level. Further, variations in the URN level for each ship type are discussed based on the results and comparisons with previous studies.

The sound properties produced by the white-edged rockfish (Sebastes taczanowskii Steindachner, 1880) were compared with the body size. We conducted a tank experiment to compare the sound properties with body length, which ranged from 12.4 to 19.8 cm. Sound production was composed of pulses with a duration of 0.010-0.022 s and a peak frequency of 400-1000 Hz. Peak frequency decreased with fish and swim bladder size and pulse duration. The relationship between sound properties and body size may be useful for estimating the body length of the target species by using passive acoustic monitoring.

Sound propagates at a greater range than light in marine environments. Anthropogenic sound and noise pollution caused by deep sea mining and offshore wind farms are increasing, which may affect the marine ecosystem. However, sound datasets in oceanic environments are quite limited. In this paper, we summarize the requirements of a deep sea soundscape monitoring device by reviewing currently available instruments, and we propose a cost-effective and noise reductive recording system to the monitor marine soundscape to identify temporal variations in the soundscape at various scales. The development of this system is ongoing, and we summarize the results of two trial deployments in a huge aquarium tank and off the pier of a marine station. The results demonstrate that the noise generated and the battery consumption of the proposed system are comparable to conventional systems. However, the proposed system is highly versatile due to the scalability of the IDE of the system's software. Our work to develop a cost-effective, noise-reductant and long-term recording system will contribute to the acquisition of soundscape data in marine environments, which is expected to enable the identification of baseline sound properties in various marine environments and reconstruct temporal and spatial variations of marine biodiversity and ecosystem dynamics.

group have developed an underwater sound recording device capable of observing underwater sound for approximately one year at a depth of 6,000 meters. We installed this device on the underwater explorer "Edokko Mark I (Type 365),"and obtained intermittent recording for about one year at the research station LE4, located about 160 km offshore south of Minami-Torishima Island, Japan, where marine mineral resources exist. In this study, we report on the newly developed underwater sound recording device and the results of the soundscape analysis.

Abstract

Marine organisms inhabiting coastal waters are known to be driven by periodic cycles such as diel, tidal, and seasonal changes. Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) breed in shallow and warm coastal waters, with males singing complex songs during the breeding season. To investigate periodic variations in humpback whale singing activities, we conducted fixed passive acoustic monitoring in the Ogasawara (Bonin) Islands, Japan, from winter to spring during 2016–2018. The singing activity and individual number of singers were observed throughout the day and night using a very long baseline passive acoustic array. The occurrence of singers peaked before sunrise and in the evening and was reduced during the daytime. The frequency of song reception depended on the tidal phase. A generalised additive model demonstrated that the occurrence of singers increased during the flood tide and decreased during the ebb tide in the waters west of Chichijima Island. These results suggest that the singing behaviour of humpback whales in breeding areas is affected by the diel and tidal cycles. Male humpback whales may change their behaviour or singing location depending on the strength and direction of the tidal current, considering that the selection of a stable location is beneficial for singing whales.

The presence of Bryde's whales (Balaenoptera edeni) in the Beibu Gulf, China has been reported since 2016. In the current study, in situ Bryde's whale vocalizations were recorded. Bouts of frequency modulated repetitive and diversified calls were recorded. Repetitive calls were recorded when 1–3 whales were present within 2 km of the boat and were probably emitted by a single whale and functioned as contact calls. Repetitive calls were divided into biphonation downswept tonals and downswept tonals. Diversified calls were recorded when 4–7 whales were present within 2 km of the boat and were probably associated with acoustic exchanges between or among conspecifics. Diversified calls occasionally contained inflection points, frequency jumps, and break point features. The frequency band of Bryde's whale vocalizations overlapped highly with background noise. Most vocalizations in the current study were different than those previously reported for this species. Therefore, the findings of this study provide more information on the known acoustic repertoire of Bryde's whales and provide a basis for noninvasive monitoring of Bryde's whale with passive acoustic methods and for developing mitigation and conservation protocols to ensure their future viability.

Ocean observations are required to provide timely evidence of facts about the ocean in order to evaluate the sustainable management of biodiversity, climate change, fisheries, mineral resources, tourism, and any other anthropogenic activities that support blue economy policymaking. In Japan, this is particularly crucial given that it is an islandic country stretching from north to south, thereby having a diverse coastal environment. Although tremendous efforts towards ocean observations have been made, coordination among sectors is not always sufficient, which prevented availing the comprehensive capacity of ocean observation. In this study, the existing observation platforms and installed sensors, particularly fixed platforms that enable real-time data transmission, were reviewed, and the spatial distribution of them was investigated. It was confirmed that a large number of observation networks cover Japanese waters; however, many of those platforms were used for single purpose, and the spatial coverage was still considerably limited for some sensors, such as salinity, dissolved oxygen, and chlorophyll a. It must be noted that this study intentionally limited the data sources of platforms/sensors to the disclosed data on public reports and/or websites, in order to raise a discussion about information disclosure of observation efforts, conducted by numerous stakeholders. Based on this information, we recommend extending the capacity of ocean observation by utilizing existing platforms rather than constructing new platforms, in order to enhance cost-effectiveness.

Highly concentrated live mass stranding events of dolphins and whales happened in the eastern coast of China between June and October 2021. The current study adopted the non-invasive auditory evoked-potential technique to investigate the hearing threshold of a stranded melon headed whale (Peponocephala electra) at a frequency range of between 9.5 and 181 kHz. It was found that, at the frequency range of from 10 to 100 kHz, hearing thresholds for the animal were between 20 and 65 dB higher than those of its phylogenetically closest species (Pygmy killer whale). The severe hearing loss in the melon headed whale was probably caused by transient intense anthropogenic sonar or chronic shipping noise exposures. The hearing loss could have been the cause for the observed temporal and spatial clustered stranding events. Therefore, there is need for noise mitigation strategies to reduce noise exposure levels for marine mammals in the coastal areas of China.

The Yangtze River exhibits a high biodiversity and plays an important role in global biodiversity conservation. As the world's busiest inland river in regard to shipping, little attention has been paid to underwater noise pollution. In 2017, the underwater noise level in 25 riverside locations along the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River mainly at night time were investigated by using passive acoustic monitoring method. Approximately 88% and 40% of the sampled sites exhibit noise levels exceeding the underwater acoustic thresholds of causing responsiveness and temporary threshold shift, respectively, in cetacean. Noise pollution may impose a high impact on fish with physostomous swim bladders and Weberian ossicles, such as silver carp, bighead carp, goldfish and common carp, whereas it may affect fish with physoclistous swim bladders and without Weberian ossicles, such as lake sturgeon and paddlefish, to a lesser extent. Noise levels reductions of approximately 10 and 20 dB were observed in the middle and lower reaches, respectively, of the Yangtze River over the 2012 level. The green development mode of the ongoing construction of green shipping in the Yangtze River Economic Belt, including the development of green shipping lanes, ports, ships and transportation organizations, may account for the alleviated underwater noise pollution. Follow-up noise mitigation endeavors, such as the extension of ship speed restrictions and the study and implementation of the optimal navigation speed in ecologically important areas, are required to further reduce the noise level in the Yangtze River to protect local porpoises and fish.

The Chukchi Sea environment changes considerably in physical and biological conditions, driven by the expanding volume of warm Pacific summer water. These environmental changes can affect the migration timing of baleen whales in the southern Chukchi Sea. However, few studies have been conducted in this area to determine the migration timing of bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus), the only baleen whale species endemic to the Arctic region. In this study, we conducted a fixed passive acoustic monitoring of bowhead whales in the southern Chukchi Sea from July 2012 to October 2015 and compared the occurrence patterns of vocalizations to physical and biological environmental factors. Bowhead whale calls were detected in fall/winter and spring during the ice-freezing and retreating periods, respectively. The fall migration timing of bowhead whales through the southern Chukchi Sea was delayed in the years when the timing of sea ice formation was late, and it formed increasingly later in the years 2013, 2014, and 2012, in that sequence. Moreover, the sea surface temperature decreased before freeze-up, which affected the timing of fall migration of bowhead whales. There was no clear relationship between the occurrence of bowhead whale calls and the abundance of prey, especially in spring, suggesting that most bowhead whales use the southern Chukchi Sea as a corridor during their spring northward migrations. However, the occurrence of bowhead whales and high abundance of zooplankton in October-November present the possibility that bowhead whales expand their feeding area in the southern Chukchi Sea.

Underwater soundscapes, though invisible, are crucial in shaping the biodiversity of marine ecosystems by acting as habitat-specific settlement cues for larvae. The deep sea has received little attention in soundscape research, but it is being targeted for mineral extraction to feed the ever-growing needs of our society. Anthropogenic impacts on soundscapes influence the resilience of key shallow-water habitats, and the same likely applies to the deep. Japan is a forerunner in deep-sea mining, but virtually no deep soundscape baselines exist for Japanese waters. Here, we report baseline soundscapes from four deep-sea locations in Japan, including the Suiyo Seamount hydrothermal vent, the abyssal plain around the Minamitorishima Island home to manganese nodule fields and muds rich in rare-earth elements, twilight depths off Sanriku, as well as a typical bathyal system in Suruga Bay. Long-duration audio recordings were visualized and factorized by an unsupervised machine learning model, revealing differing characteristics among the habitats. Two locations near the coast are highly influenced by shipping noise. The Suiyo vent is characterized by low-frequency sounds from venting, and the abyssal Minamitorishima is quiet with a flat spectral shape. Noise from observation platforms is likely sufficient to alter soundscape characteristics, especially in offshore locations, suggesting offshore mining-targeted areas are susceptible to impacts from anthropogenic noise. We argue that the monitoring of soundscapes is an indispensable component for assessing potential mining impacts on deep-sea ecosystems. Our results establish reference points for future soundscape monitoring and assessment in Japanese waters as well as similar ecosystems globally.

UNESCO World Natural Heritage sites are established to ensure the long-term conservation of natural areas. Nemuro Strait in northern Japan is adjacent to the Shiretoko World Natural Heritage Site, and attracts various trophic levels of marine species, including marine mammals. Although the coexistence of humans and marine mammals is an important issue in this area, the temporal habitat use of cetaceans in this area is unknown. Here, we document seasonal and diel changes in cetacean vocalizations collected using passive acoustic recording devices during November 2012-March 2014. Killer whale calls occurred in spring and summer, and sperm whale clicks were detected in summer. Pacific white-sided dolphin calls were recorded in summer and late fall. No cetaceans were recorded during the sea ice period in February and March. The dolphin calls and unknown click trains were significantly more frequent at night. In contrast, marginal diel changes in killer whale calls were detected. Our results suggest that the majority of cetaceans utilize Nemuro Strait at night during the ice-free period, and we provide new insights into the habitat use and diversity of marine mammals in the Strait.

Taoyuan Algal Reef is a biodiverse coralline algal reef in north-west Taiwan, that is currently threatened by coastal development and industrial waste runoff. As the reef lies in an exposed area that is frequently disturbed by monsoons, it is difficult to survey using traditional methods. Knowledge of the reef is therefore limited, and has until recently, long been regarded as a barren environment. However, recent studies have revealed that the reef is inhabited by a diverse array of organisms, particularly at Datan, where a natural gas receiving terminal is planned for construction. Due to challenging environmental conditions, otolith assemblage and soundscape analyses were used to supplement traditional sampling methods including clove oil, netting, and pole-and-line fishing in order to assess the diversity of the fish community at Taoyuan Algal Reef. Several fish species that had not been recorded by previous surveys were observed. Fish diversity and the average size of commercially targeted species were greatest at Datan G2. Predatory reef fishes such as groupers (Serranidae) and snappers (Lutjanidae), as well as several small endangered scalloped hammerhead sharks Sphyrna lewini were recorded at G2, where otolith assemblage analysis also indicated increased predatory activity. However, fewer individuals and species were recorded from tidal pools across all sites compared to previous surveys, suggesting a loss of biodiversity. If construction work resumes at Datan, it will be likely to have adverse consequences for the reef itself, the species that inhabit it, and by extension, the local fishermen that rely upon it. Halting additional coastal development, reducing industrial and domestic pollution, as well as improving the management of traditional fisheries is recommended to protect this unique reef ecosystem from further degradation.

Remote acquisition of information on ecosystem dynamics is essential for conservation management, especially for the deep ocean. Soundscape offers unique opportunities to study the behavior of soniferous marine animals and their interactions with various noise-generating activities at a fine temporal resolution. However, the retrieval of soundscape information remains challenging owing to limitations in audio analysis techniques that are effective in the face of highly variable interfering sources. This study investigated the application of a seafloor acoustic observatory as a long-term platform for observing marine ecosystem dynamics through audio source separation. A source separation model based on the assumption of source-specific periodicity was used to factorize time-frequency representations of long-duration underwater recordings. With minimal supervision, the model learned to discriminate source-specific spectral features and prove to be effective in the separation of sounds made by cetaceans, soniferous fish, and abiotic sources from the deep-water soundscapes off northeastern Taiwan. Results revealed phenological differences among the sound sources and identified diurnal and seasonal interactions between cetaceans and soniferous fish. The application of clustering to source separation results generated a database featuring the diversity of soundscapes and revealed a compositional shift in clusters of cetacean vocalizations and fish choruses during diurnal and seasonal cycles. The source separation model enables the transformation of single-channel audio into multiple channels encoding the dynamics of biophony, geophony, and anthropophony, which are essential for characterizing the community of soniferous animals, quality of acoustic habitat, and their interactions. Our results demonstrated the application of source separation could facilitate acoustic diversity assessment, which is a crucial task in soundscape-based ecosystem monitoring. Future implementation of soundscape information retrieval in long-term marine observation networks will lead to the use of soundscapes as a new tool for conservation management in an increasingly noisy ocean.

Bycatch of harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) by gillnets is a recognised threat to populations. To develop effective mitigation measures, understanding the mechanics of bycatch is essential. Previous studies in experimental conditions suggested foraging activity is an important factor influencing porpoises' reaction to gillnets. We acoustically observed the behaviour of wild harbour porpoises around a bottom-gillnet set-up in a commercial fishing ground, especially foraging activity. Passive acoustic event recorders (A-tags) were fixed to the ends of the gillnet, and recorded for 1 392 hours. Although harbour porpoises frequently and repeatedly appeared around the net each day, incidental bycatch occurred only three times during the observations. The stomach contents of two individuals contained mainly Ammodytes sp., which were observable around the bottom-gillnet but not targeted by the fishery. A total of 276 foraging incidents were acoustically detected, and 78.2% of the foraging activity was in the bottom layer (deeper than 25 m). Porpoises appeared around the net with more frequency on the day of a bycatch incident than on the days without bycatch. These results suggest that the harbour porpoises appeared around the bottom-gillnet to forage on fish distributed in the fishing ground, but not captured by this bottom-gillnet. Thus, porpoises face the risk of becoming entangled when foraging near a gillnet, with the probability of bycatch simply increasing with the length of time spent near the net. Bycatch mitigation measures are discussed.

Information on biodiversity is essential to evaluate the ecological status of coral reefs. Sounds produced by reef-associated organisms have been used as a biodiversity indicator. However, the interference from abiotic sounds and the lack of a comprehensive audio library have impeded effective evaluation. This study investigated the application of underwater soundscapes as a remote-sensing method to detect biological and anthropogenic activities. Using techniques including the visualization of long-duration recordings, source separation, and clustering, soundscapes were separated into sounds of anthropogenic and biological sources. Our results revealed the dynamics of biological sounds among coral reefs off Sesoko Island, Okinawa, Japan. Biological sounds were much more prominent in shallow-water reefs than in upper-mesophotic reefs, but their spectral features and compositions differed. The shallow-water reefs were dominated by broadband sounds of crustaceans and low-frequency transient fish calls, whereas the upper-mesophotic reefs were characterized by a diverse array of fish choruses and transient sounds. We also discovered that shipping noise heavily interfered with the soundscapes from the upper-mesophotic reefs and represented an invisible threat to life in the low-light habitat. The applied techniques of soundscape information retrieval revealed the distinct ecological status of coral reefs and the behavior change of sound-producing organisms in high temporal resolution. Implementation of soundscape monitoring can generate ecological information on habitat quality, reef biodiversity, human activities, and their interactions. Global collaboration on underwater soundscapes will establish a data-informed platform and help stakeholders assess the resilience of coral reefs to environmental and anthropogenic stressors.

Long-term monitoring of cetacean vocalizations allows for the exploration of their occurrence, seasonality and abundance. However, accurate automatic detection of vocalizations from vast acoustic datasets containing diverse sound sources remains a challenge. In this study, we propose the permutation entropy (H) and the sample entropy (SE) as metrics for the unattended detection of whistles and clicks. We tested the detection performance of whistles and clicks in various scenarios commonly occurring in marine habitats, including dense snapping shrimps, vessel engine noise and overlapping whistles and clicks. The use of the entropy metrics resulted in detection accuracy of over 95%. In particular, H outcomes correctly detected whistles even if associated with snapping shrimps or engine noise, while SE was a reliable indicator for clicks and robust to vessel noise. These algorithms do not require prior training in vocalization and are computationally fast. The advancement of metrics such as those presented here, will enable non-invasive and cost-effective assessment of cetacean population dynamics and health and may inform future conservation management.

The Irrawaddy dolphins (Orcaella brevirostris) are an endangered species. Thus, up-to-date information on the distribution pattern of dolphins is critical for its proper management and conservation. Using a towed passive acoustic monitoring device, the distribution pattern of the Irrawaddy dolphins in the middle reaches of the Ayeyarwady River, Myanmar, was investigated during a vessel-based survey between Mingun and Katha. This region was successively divided into segments 1–4 from upstream to downstream. Sixteen echolocation encounters, with a series of click trains separated by <8 min and 26 dolphin acoustic trajectories were recorded. The mean dolphin detection rate (animals/kilometer) across the four segments progressively increased from upstream to downstream. High relative abundance was observed in segment 4 (46%) and segment 1 (23%) which was consistent with findings from historical boat-based visual surveys. The averaged interclick intervals of each click train in segment 2 and 4 was significantly shorter than that in segment 3, indicating that the dolphins in these segments frequently use shorter-ranged biosonar. More frequent and consistent surveys with a systematic sampling track design that incorporates other factors and covering the whole distribution range along the Ayeyarwady River and at varied water levels are needed in the future.

Underwater sound plays an important role in some critical life functions of many aquatic animals. Underwater noise pollution has received relatively more attention in ocean systems. However, little attention has been paid to freshwater systems, such as the Yangtze River which is the habitat of critically endangered Yangtze finless porpoises (Neophocaena asiaeorientalis asiaeorientalis). In 2012, the underwater noise levels in 25 sites along the middle and lower sections of the Yangtze River were measured. The root mean square sound pressure level (SPL) and unweighted sound exposure level (SEL) at each site ranged between 105 ± 2.4 (median ± quartile deviation) and 150 ± 5.5 dB. Obvious spatial and temporal variations in the SPL were detected among the 25 sites. The SPL and SEL in the middle section of the Yangtze River were smaller (approximately 15 dB) and fluctuated more compared to those in the lower section. The power spectrum in the mainstem was site specific. However, all the spectra levels were higher than the audiogram of Yangtze finless porpoises. Majority of the sites had an averaged cumulative unweighted SEL (72%) and cumulative weighted SEL (68%) that surpassed the underwater acoustic thresholds for onset of hearing temporal threshold shifts for finless porpoise. Porpoise bio-sonars were detected in 89% of sonar monitoring sites indicating that noise pollution in the Yangtze River greatly threatened porpoise survival. In 8% of the sites, the averaged cumulative weighted SEL exceeded that of underwater acoustic thresholds causing non-recoverable permanent threshold shifts of finless porpoises auditory system whereas it was less than 1 dB below the underwater acoustic thresholds in other 8% of the sites. These sites urgently needed noise mitigation and management strategies. These results will facilitate the evaluation of the impacts of anthropogenic noise pollution on local finless porpoises and give further guidelines on its effective conservation.

Hearing is considered the primary sensory modality of cetaceans and enables their vital life functions. Information on the hearing sensitivity variability within a species obtained in a biologically relevant wild context is fundamental to evaluating potential noise impact and population-relevant management. Here, non-invasive auditory evoked-potential methods were adopted to describe the audiograms (11.2-152 kHz) of a group of four wild Yangtze finless porpoises (Neophocaena asiaeorientalis asiaeorientalis) during a capture-and-release health assessment project in Poyang Lake, China. All audiograms presented a U shape, generally similar to those of other delphinids and phocoenids. The lowest auditory threshold (51-55 dB re 1 µPa) was identified at a test frequency of 76 kHz, which was higher than that observed in aquarium porpoises (54 kHz). The good hearing range (within 20 dB of the best hearing sensitivity) was from approximately 20 to 145 kHz, and the low- and high-frequency hearing cut-offs (threshold > 120 dB re l μPa) were 5.6 and 170 kHz, respectively. Compared with aquarium porpoises, wild porpoises have significantly better hearing sensitivity at 32 and 76 kHz and worse sensitivity at 54, 108 and 140 kHz. The audiograms of this group can provide a basis for better understanding the potential impact of anthropogenic noise.

Targets of deep-sea mining commonly coincide with biodiversity hotspots, such as hydrothermal vents. The resilience of these ecosystems relies on larval dispersal, which may be directed by habitat-specific soundscapes. We urge for a global effort to implement soundscape as a conservation tool to assess anthropogenic disruption to deep-sea benthic ecosystems.

Soundscapes are vital to acoustically specialized animals. Using passive acoustic monitoring data, the temporal and spectral variations in the soundscape of a Chinese white dolphin hotspot were analyzed. By cluster analysis, the 1/3 octave band power spectrum can be grouped into three bands with median overall contribution rates of 35.24, 14.14 and 30.61%. Significant diel and tidal soundscape variations were observed with a generalized linear model. Temporal patterns and frequency ranges of middle frequency band sound matched well with those of fish vocalization, indicating that fish might serve as a signal source. Dolphin sounds were mainly detected in periods involving low levels of ambient sound and without fish vocalization, which could reflect noise avoidance and passive eavesdropping behaviors engaged in by the predator. Pre-construction data can be used to assess the effects of offshore windfarms on acoustic environments and aquatic animals by comparing them with the soundscape of postconstruction and/or postmitigation.

Central place foraging theory (CPF) has been used to predict the optimal patch residence time for air-breathing marine predators in response to patch quality. Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) forage on densely aggregated prey, which may induce drastic change in prey density in a single feeding event. Thus, the decision whether to leave or stay after each feeding event in a single dive in response to this drastic change, should have a significant effect on prey exploitation efficiency. However, whether humpback whales show adaptive behavior in response to the diminishing prey density in a single dive has been technically difficult to test. Here, we studied the foraging behavior of humpback whales in response to change in prey density in a single dive and calculated the efficiency of each foraging dive using a model based on CPF approach. Using animal-borne accelerometers and video loggers attached to whales, foraging behavior and change in relative prey density in front of the whales were successfully quantified. Results showed diminishing rate of energy intake in consecutive feeding events, and humpback whales efficiently fed by bringing the rate of energy intake close to maximum in a single dive cycle. This video-based method also enabled us to detect the presence of other animals around the tagged whales, showing an interesting trend in behavioral changes where feeding duration was shorter when other animals were present. Our results have introduced a new potential to quantitatively investigate the effect of other animals on free-ranging top predators in the context of optimal foraging theory.

Coral reefs represent the most biologically diverse marine ecosystem, however, they are vulnerable to environmental changes and impacts. Therefore, information on the variability of environment and biodiversity is essential for the conservation management of coral reefs. In this study, a soundscape analysis based on range-wide and long-term underwater recording were conducted. Maps of damselfishes and snapping sounds could be obtained by supervised feature extraction of species specific sounds. Using unsupervised classifier, Shannon index of soundscape diversity was shown to be high in deep waters. Mesophotic coral reefs in deep water have been considered as potential refuges for symbiotic corals when coral bleaching happens in shallow reefs due to high sea surface temperature. Results seemed to be consistent with this hypothesis.

This paper presents a method for automatic detection of fish sounds in an underwater environment. There exist two difficulties: (i) features and classifiers that provide good detection results differ depending on the underwater environment and (ii) there are cases where a large amount of training data that is necessary for supervised machine learning cannot be prepared. A method presented in this paper (the proposed hybrid method) overcomes these difficulties as follows. First, novel logistic regression (NLR) is derived via adaptive feature weighting by focusing on the accuracy of classification results by multiple classifiers, support vector machine (SVM), and k-nearest neighbors (k-NN). Although there are cases where SVM or k-NN cannot work well due to divergence of useful features, NLR can produce complementary results. Second, the proposed hybrid method performs multi-stage classification with consideration of the accuracy of SVM, k-NN, and NLR. The multi-stage acquisition of reliable results works adaptively according to the underwater environment to reduce performance degradation due to diversity of useful classifiers even if abundant training data cannot be prepared. Experiments on underwater recordings including sounds of Sciaenidae such as silver croakers (Pennahia argentata) and blue drums (Nibea mitsukurii) show the effectiveness of the proposed hybrid method.

Reactions of singing behavior of individual humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) to a specific shipping noise were examined. Two autonomous recorders separated by 3.0 km were used for the acoustic monitoring of each individual song sequence. A passenger-cargo liner was operated once per day, and other large ship noise was excluded given the remote location of the Ogasawara Islands, 1000 km south of Tokyo. In total, locations of between 26 and 27 singers were measured acoustically using time arrival difference at both stereo recorders on the ship presence and absence days, respectively. Source level of the ship (157 dB rms re 1μPa) was measured separately in deep water. Fewer whales sang nearby, within 500 m, of the shipping lane. Humpback whales reduced sound production after the ship passed, when the minimum distance to the whale from the ship trajectory was 1200 m. In the Ogasawara water, humpback whales seemed to stop singing temporarily rather than modifying sound characteristics of their song such as through frequency shifting or source level elevation. This could be a cost effective adaptation because the propagation loss at 500 m from the sound source is as high as 54 dB. The focal ship was 500 m away within several minutes. Responses may differ where ship traffic is heavy, because avoiding an approaching ship may be difficult when many sound sources exist.

Harbor porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) are often captured as bycatch in set net fisheries, which may have a large impact on their population and reduces the efficiency of fishing operations. Therefore, this study aimed to use passive acoustic monitoring using “A-tag” stereo acoustic data loggers to observe the presence and movement of harbor porpoises in two large set nets off Usujiri, Hakodate, Hokkaido, Japan, from April to May 2013–2015. Bycatch of harbor porpoises in the set nets was surveyed from onboard the set net fishing boat. Harbor porpoises were observed in the final trap of the set net on 10 separate days; however, bycatch was confirmed only once. These results indicate that the number of harbor porpoises captured as bycatch represents only a fraction of the number that are present in the set net, demonstrating their ability to escape from the net.

Passive acoustics has been used to investigate behavior and relative abundances of soniferous fish. However, because of noise interferences, it remains challenging to accurately analyze acoustic activities of soniferous fish. This study proposes a multi-method approach, which combines rule-based detector, periodicity-coded non-negative matrix factorization, and Gaussian mixture models. Although the three methods performed well when used to detect croaker choruses in quiet conditions, inconsistent results are observed in noisy conditions. A consistency matrix can provide insights regarding the bias of acoustic monitoring results. The results suggest that the proposed approach can reasonably improve passive acoustic monitoring of soniferous fish.

Ice-breeding seals use vocal communication mainly during breeding season. The vocal function of aquatic mating, ice-associated ribbon seals (Histriophoca fasciata) has been unknown since they produce sounds in both breeding and non-breeding seasons. We examined the timing of their vocal presence in relation to environmental factors to infer the function of their calls in the Nemuro Strait, northern Japan, since this area is the possible southern limit of their breeding range. Vocalizations of ribbon seals were irregularly sampled from November 2012 to March 2014 in the Nemuro Strait and were compared with sea ice presence, time of day, and tidal currents. Ribbon seal downsweeps were detected in February 2013 and March 2014 only when sea ice was present along the Shiretoko Peninsula in the strait, with more detections in March leading up to the spring breeding season. Downsweep detections decreased in the middle of the day, indicating that ribbon seals were likely to be hauled out during this time. Vocalizing at night and early morning would probably reflect the increased opportunity for attracting females underwater. Our study suggests that the seal vocalizations in concurrence with sea ice presence in the Nemuro Strait could function as underwater communication for breeding.

Many previous studies have shown that rorqual whales (Balaenopteridae), including the blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus), fin whale (B. physalus), sei whale (B. borealis), Bryde's whale (B. edeni), minke whale (B. acutorostrata), and humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae), employ a strategy called lunge feeding to capture a large amount of krill and/or fish for nourishment [1]. Lunge feeding entails a high energetic cost due to the drag created by an open mouth at high speeds [1,2]. In the upper Gulf of Thailand, Bryde's whales, which feed on small fish species [3], predominantly anchovies, demonstrated a range of feeding behaviors such as oblique, vertical, and lateral lunging. Moreover, they displayed a novel head-lifting feeding behavior characterized by holding the vertical posture for several seconds with an open mouth at the water surface. This study describes the head-lifting feeding by Bryde's whales, which is distinct from the typical lunge feeding of rorqual whales. Whales showing this behavior were observed on 58 occasions, involving 31 whales and including eight adult–calf pairs. Whales caught their prey using a series of coordinated movements: (i) lifting the head above the water with a closed mouth, (ii) opening the mouth until the lower jaw contacted the sea surface, which created a current of water flowing into the mouth, (iii) holding their position for several seconds, (iv) waiting for the prey to enter the mouth, and (v) closing the mouth and engulfing the prey underwater (Figure 1A–F, Movie S1 in Supplemental Information published with this article online). When a whale kept its upper jaw above the sea surface, many anchovies in the targeted shoal appeared to lose orientation and flowed passively into the mouth of the whale by the current created by the lower mandible breaking the surface of the water. We measured the duration of feeding events when the whales had a wide-open mouth mostly above the sea surface. The mean and maximum feeding durations were 14.5 ± 5.4 (SD; n = 58 events) and 32 s, respectively. Deployment of animal-borne data loggers yielded approximately 44 minutes of recordings from a single whale. The acceleration data showed that stroke rates, including tail beat and whole-body movements during feeding, were faster (approximately 0.7 s cycle) than during a cruising swim (approximately 3 s cycle) (Figure 1G). The swimming speed was lower than that in the stall speed (0.2 m s−1) of the device during the feeding phase, suggesting that thrust force was used to hold the head up and to stabilize body posture (Figure 1G). Stable positioning using the fluke and flipper was confirmed by video data for both the downward and upward direction of the whale (Figure S1). According to the visual and behavioral data, we named the head-lifting feeding as ‘tread-water feeding’. Generally, all species of baleen whale, including rorqual whales, show active chasing and feeding, i.e., skimming, suction, and engulfing with lunging [1]. Tread-water feeding is considered passive feeding as compared with other feeding behaviors because the whales do not swim forward in pursuit of prey during the period from mouth opening to closing, and although they need thrust force to stabilize their posture, the head does not actively move. To the best of our knowledge, this discovery of tread-water feeding in Bryde's whales represents the first report of passive feeding in baleen whales, which indicates their flexible capacity to modify their foraging strategy in relation to variable environments. Iwata et al. report ‘tread-water’ feeding in Bryde's whales, a form of passive feeding in baleen whales.

All animals sleep and it is essential for maintaining optimal brain function. However, cetaceans engage in the unusual practice of unihemispherical sleep, where only half of their brain sleeps at a time, due to their constant need for movement and breathing. Most studies of sleep in cetaceans have occurred in captivity. However, tagging devices have now developed to the point where the data collected from wild animals can be assessed against published criteria for defining sleep behaviourally. Seven acoustic and behavioural data loggers were deployed on harbour porpoises, Phocoena phocoena, in Danish waters between May 2010 and August 2011 and stayed on the animals between 53 and 72 h, recording 1884 to 2755 valid dives per animal. Parabolic dives with significantly reduced bioacoustic activity and a stereotyped behavioural pattern were identified as potential sleeping periods. The recordings for nearly half of the parabolic dives were found to contain no vocalization (echolocation clicks), significantly more than other dive types. Of the remaining parabolic dives, the click rate was, when normalized to their individual means, also significantly lower than detected in other dive types. Additionally, parabolic dives were shallow compared to all other dive types, and found to have a stereotypic low-energy profile. They were also found to contain fewer rolls and incorporate a lower vertical descent rate than most other dive types. If the data are representative, harbour porpoises spend a small, but meaningful amount of their diving time engaged in parabolic dives and thus potentially sleeping. All animals have a fundamental need for undisturbed sleep. These quiet periods thus need to be considered in studies of anthropogenic effects, but also those employing passive acoustic monitoring techniques, as well as in efforts to reduce incidental bycatch in fisheries, given the associated periods of reduced environmental awareness. (C) 2017 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Background. Repetitive species-specific sound enables the identification of the presence and behavior of soniferous species by acoustic means. Passive acoustic monitoring has been widely applied to monitor the spatial and temporal occurrence and behavior of calling species.
Methods. Underwater biological sounds in the Pearl River Estuary China, were collected using passive acoustic monitoring with special attention paid to fish,sounds. A total of 1,408 suspected fish calls comprising 18,942 pulses were qualitatively analyzed using a customized acoustic analysis routine.
Results. We identified a diversity of 66 types of fish sounds. In addition to single pulse, the sounds tended to have a pulse train structure. The pulses were characterized by an approximate 8 ms duration, with a peak frequency from 500 to 2,600 Hz and a majority of the energy below 4,000 Hz. The median inter-pulsepeak interval (IPPI) of most call types was 9 or 10 ms. Most call types with median IPPIs of 9 ms and 10 ms were observed at times that were exclusive from each other, suggesting that they might be produced by different species. According to the literature, the two section signal types of 1 + 1 and 1 + Nic, might belong to big-snout croaker (Johnius macrorhyuus), and 1 + N-19 might be produced by Belanger's croaker (J. belarigerii).
Discussion. Categorization of the baseline ambient biological sound is an important first step in mapping the spatial and temporal patterns of soniferous fishes. The next step is the identification of the species producing each sound. The distribution pattern of soniferous fishes will be helpful for the protection and management of local fishery resources and in marine environmental impact assessment. Since the local vulnerable Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin (Sousa chineusis) mainly preys on soniferous fishes, the fine-scale distribution pattern of soniferous fishes can aid in the conservation of this species. Additionally, prey and predator relationships can be observed when a database of species-identified sounds is completed.

Some fish species produce sounds consisting of periodic pulses that are associated with distinct behaviors (e.g., courtship). Thus, the ability to estimate the direction of arrival from recorded sounds could provide insight into fish ecology and behavior. A stereo recording system was used to monitor underwater fish call sounds. The recorded signals were subjected to automatic processing to detect sounds that had the characteristics of fish calls. The direction of arrival for each detected sound was then estimated using the arrival time difference between the two hydrophones. Simulations confirmed that the recording system could accurately estimate the direction of arrival of fish call sounds. Furthermore, a blind source separation method was used to separate detected sounds originating from multiple individuals or groups of fish. Using this method, the direction of arrival for calls from multiple sources was estimated. The method described in this paper was successfully applied to monitor and isolate sounds from white croaker (Pennahia argentata) in the ocean.

The noise evaluation of the platform is necessary to use passive acoustic monitoring. In this study, we measured background noise of underwater platforms such as AUVs and deep sea landers. AUV that has thrusters was higher background noise level, when control own position and speed. However, background noise level was deduced, when stopped thrusters. The background noise of AUV of the type of control buoyance of own and of the deep sea lander was low. The background noise of AUVs on low frequency range was higher than high frequency range. A biological sound was observed using AUV. Even if AUV was to depth of the water 900m, the sound of the creature was measured. Therefore, the biological sound could be observed using AUVs or the deep sea lander, and the possibility that the biological sound could be observed automatically and extensively was indicated.

Presence of finless porpoises around Kansai International airport was monitored by a passive acoustic monitoring system. The airport is an artificial land in the ocean and was suggested to create new habitat of marine organisms. Here we showed frequent nocturnal presence of finless porpoises at the south west of the airport where quite limited visual observation data available previously. During 4 months period from December to April in 2016, biosonar sounds of finless porpoises were detected nearly every day. Accumulated number of click trains in one hour time bin were 100 or larger in the nighttime. In contrast, approximately 50 click trains were recorded in the daytime. Ocean engineering newly created an island, Kansai International airport. This structure might create new habitat even for top predators in this water.

A previous research reported that the cable system off Kushiro-Tokachi was detected low frequency calls of fin whales. In this research, as an application using cable observatories about 'development of remote species identification technologies for marine organisms', we developed a real-time processing system for underwater acoustic signal with cable observatory. This paper reports the results of automatically detection and localization from continues observation using hydrophones and seismometers of the cable observatory. The applied system in cable observatories visualizes the number and position of fin whales.

Many animals in the ocean produce sounds for mating choice, territorial defending, group cohesion and echolocation. Sound travels much longer distance in the water comparing with light that makes the acoustic waves efficient for long distance communication and sensing. The species or family specific sounds can be used to identify not only the presence of animals but also counting the number and density of target species. In these years, various types of underwater recorders are available. However, for the successful acoustic monitoring in the ocean, safe platforms to deploy the recorders are essential. In this paper, advantages and drawbacks of fixed and mobile platforms for passive acoustic monitoring are summarized referring practical application examples in Japanese waters.

Finless porpoises Neophocaena spp. are under pressure from various anthropogenic impacts due to their coastal habitat. Net fishery bycatch is considered a major risk for the populations around Japan, and mitigation measures are required. We carried out a long-term study to assess the efficiency of acoustic pingers in reducing the encounter rates of narrow-ridged finless porpoises with fishing nets. We used a passive ultrasonic event recorder (A-tag) to obtain acoustic encounter rates of echolocating finless porpoises and compared results for the presence and absence of pinger transmissions in Omura Bay, Japan, over two 8-mo periods (2011 and 2012). Encounter rates were significantly lower during periods when pingers were in operation, but the effect of pingers decreased with time. By the eighth month of the study in each study year, the number of encounters during the ensonified period was greater than that during periods without pingers, suggesting habituation. When pingers were reactivated at the study site after 4 mo of silence, the encounters with the active pingers returned to the lower level observed at the beginning of the experiment. These results reveal that the pingers effectively induce avoidance in porpoises, but that this effectiveness only lasts for a few months, which is likely due to habituation which could be mitigated by alternating periods of several months of silence between periods of active pinger use.

In this research, the automatically analyzation method which detect acoustic events such as fin whale calls and its locations is embedded in cable observatory system. This system has detection method about fin whale calls using spectrogram correlation, and the localization of fin whale calls using two hydrophones and a three-axis seismometer. This observation at off Kushiro-Tokachi has been continuously performed for more than 10 years. The detection and tracking analysis for fin whale calls are carried out about the archive data in parallel with the real-time data. The results of the past 10 years including the latest information is reported.

<title>Abstract</title>
Fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus) undergo seasonal migration in the Arctic Sea. Because their migration and distribution is likely affected by changes in global climate, we aimed to examine the migration timing of fin whales, and the relationship with prey availability within the oceanographic environment of the Arctic Sea, using passive and active acoustic monitoring methods. Automatic Underwater Sound Monitoring Systems were deployed in the southern Chukchi Sea from July 2012 to 2014 to determine the acoustic presence of fin whales. Furthermore, water temperature and salinity were recorded by a fixed data logger. An Acoustic Zooplankton Fish Profiler was additionally deployed to estimate prey abundance through backscattering strength. Sea ice concentrations were obtained by remote sensing data. Fin whale calls were automatically detected using a custom-made software, and the per cent of half-hours containing calls were counted. Fin whale calls were detected from 4 August to 20 October 2012 (78 d) and 25 July to 1 November 2013 (100 d). The extended period of acoustic presence of fin whales during 2013 when compared with 2012 is likely related to a longer ice-free period during 2013. Furthermore, generalized linear model analyses showed that half-hour periods containing calls increased with a rise in water temperature and zooplankton abundance during the initial call presence period, while they decreased with a decrease in water temperature and salinity during the end of the call presence period. Our results suggest that the rise in water temperature and zooplankton abundance affect the timing of migration of fin whales in a way that is consistent with the expansion of their suitable habitats and the extension of their presence in the Arctic Sea.

A critical concern with respect to marine animal acoustics is the issue of hearing "sensitivity," as it is widely used as a criterion for the onset of noise-induced effects. Important aspects of research on sensitivity to sound by marine animals include: uncertainties regarding how well these species detect and respond to different sounds; the masking effects of man-made sounds on the detection of biologically important sounds; the question how internal state, motivation, context, and previous experience affect their behavioral responses; and the long-term and cumulative effects of sound exposure. If we are to better understand the sensitivity of marine animals to sound we must concentrate research on these questions. In order to assess population level and ecological community impacts new approaches can possibly be adopted from other disciplines and applied to marine fauna. (C) 2016 Acoustical Society of America.

The acoustic performance and behaviour of free-ranging cetaceans requires investigation under natural conditions to understand how wild animals use sound. This is also useful to develop quantitative evaluation techniques for passive acoustic monitoring. There have been limited studies on the acoustics of the Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin; nevertheless, this species is of particular concern because of the anthropogenic activity in the coastal habitats. In the present study, we used a four-hydrophone array to estimate the apparent source levels (ASLs) of biosonar sequences (click trains), of this species in San-Niang Bay, China. As the dolphins approached the array, 173 click trains were found to meet the criteria of on-axis sounds produced within 60 m of the equipment. In total, 121 unclipped click trains were used for the ASL estimation. The qualified click trains contained 36.3 +/- 32.5 clicks, lasting for 1.5 +/- 1.5 s, with average inter-click intervals (ICIs) of 51.2 +/- 38.3 ms. Average ICIs showed a bimodal distribution, with a cut-off at 20 ms. Short-range click trains, with short ICIs of,20 ms on average, were characterized by smaller ASLs, relatively stable ICIs and a shorter click train duration. The mean back-calculated ASL for humpback dolphins with an approximately maximum body size of 2.5 m was 181.7 +/- 7.0 dB re 1 mu Pa at a distance of 1.6-57.2 m. This value was comparable to that recorded for other dolphins of similar body size, although the ASL estimates obtained in this study might be conservative.

We monitored the underwater behavior of botos (Inia geoffrensis) using stereo acoustic data loggers to observe their local habitat use and its diel changes at the Mamirauá Sustainable Development Reserve, Brazil. A-tags were set at five sites in three different habitat types: Lake (low current), Channel (middle current), and Junction (junction of two channels). The presence index during nighttime was significantly greater than during daytime in the Lake and Junction. Underwater movement was estimated from the changing pattern (trajectory) of the relative angle of the sound source from A-tags. A staying-type trajectory was dominant in the Lake, although the prevalence of moving-type trajectory increased at night. More than 80% of detected trajectories were the staying type in the Junction, while moving-type trajectories dominated in the Channel. The frequency of click trains was greatest in the Lake, followed by the Junction and Channels. The average interpulse interval, which reflects the mean target distance of echolocation, was shortest in the Lake, followed by the Junction and Channel. These results suggest that the botos used the Lake as their primary habitat for active behaviors like foraging, especially at night, and the Junction as their primary habitat for relatively inactive behaviors at night.

Passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) has been widely used as the standard method to observe small cetaceans. Recent drastic improvement of monitoring device makes PAM more convenient, cost-effective monitoring method. Also, improvement of analysis methods of acoustic data enables us to estimate habitat range, density, behavior of animals using PAM. However, most previous studies focus on one species and select the data that the observed species were confirmed visually. In order to extend the application of PAM to the field that several species appear simultaneously, species identification method is essential. Especially, PAM plays a key role of environmental assessment on marine development such as offshore wind farm in recent years. In that case, it is important to observe each species which appear in the construction area separately for effective conservation. This paper reviewed the recently developed species identification methods. Basically, many identification methods focused on one of two types of animal call, whistles used for communications or biosonar signals used for echolocation. We introduce the advantage and disadvantage of the method using whistles or biosonar signals, and discuss the current issues and future works we need to resolve them.

Environmental changes are considered to affect the migration and distribution of baleen whales in the Arctic region. We examined the seasonal acoustic presence of fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus) and the relationships between acoustics and oceanographic environments in the southern Chukchi Sea from July 2012 to October 2015. Fin whale calls were detected from 4 August to 20 October 2012, from 25 July to 1 November 2013, from 26 July to 14 November 2014, and 7 June 2015, only in the ice-free (sea ice concentration = 0%) periods. In addition, from the recordings in 2012 and 2013, fin whale calls were present in the periods of high prey abundance, and there were significant positive correlations among their call presence, prey abundance, water temperature and salinity. Furthermore, the result that the calls were detected in 7 June 2015 suggests that fin whales arrive much earlier at the southern Chukchi Sea than previously reported. Our study provide valuable information to assess the impact on marine ecosystem in the Arctic region by environmental changes.

Marine invertebrates potentially represent a group of species whose ecology may be influenced by artificial noise. Exposure to anthropogenic sound sources could have a direct consequence on the functionality and sensitivity of their sensory organs, the statocysts, which are responsible for their equilibrium and movements in the water column. The availability of novel laser Doppler vibrometer techniques has recently opened the possibility of measuring whole body ( distance, velocity, and acceleration) vibration as a direct stimulus eliciting statocyst response, offering the scientific community a new level of understanding of the marine invertebrate hearing mechanism.

It is important information to measure fish movement, swimming direction, and target strength of the fish for species identification by using active acoustics. Broadband quantitative echo sounders have been developed in the world. Broadband system can measure single echo traces from individual fish with high range resolution. Single echo traces with high range resolution give us much more information of fish movements than by using conventional narrow band quantitative echo sounders. This paper presents the results of our in situ measurements.

Shallow, low-activity, low-biosonar parabolic-shaped dives were observed in biologging data from tagged harbor porpoises in Danish waters and identified as potential sleeping behavior. This behavioral state merits consideration in assessing the context for noise exposure and passive acoustic monitoring studies. Similar dives have also been reported for other cetacean species. The existence of low-level bioacoustic dives that may represent that sleeping has implications for the mitigation of not only noise exposure but also of bycatch as well as legal repercussions given the protected status of sleeping, as a part of resting, under many legislative regimes.

A growing demand for sustainable energy has led to an increase in construction of offshore windfarms. Guishan windmill farm will be constructed in the Pearl River Estuary, China, which sustains the world's largest known population of Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins (Sousa chinensis). Dolphin conservation is an urgent issue in this region. By using passive acoustic monitoring, a baseline distribution of data on this species in the Pearl River Estuary during pre-construction period had been collected. Dolphin biosonar detection and its diel, lunar, seasonal and tidal patterns were examined using a Generalized Linear Model. Significant higher echolocation detections at night than during the day, in winter-spring than in summer-autumn, at high tide than at flood tide were recognized. Significant higher echolocation detections during the new moon were recognized at night time. The diel, lunar and seasonal patterns for the echolocation encounter duration also significantly varied. These patterns could be due to the spatial-temporal variability of dolphin prey and illumination conditions. The baseline information will be useful for driving further effective action on the conservation of this species and in facilitating later assessments of the effects of the offshore windfarm on the dolphins by comparing the baseline to post construction and post mitigation efforts.

River estuaries are dynamic regions that are influenced by the interactions between freshwater and seawater as well as seasonal variations in river runoffs. Studies focusing on the distribution of Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins (Sousa chinensis) have indicated their general tendency toward estuarine habitats. The seasonal activities of humpback dolphins are likely to synchronize with environmental fluctuations. This study investigated the effects of seasonal changes in river runoffs on the distribution gradient of humpback dolphins by deploying acoustic data loggers along the Xin Huwei River estuary, Western Taiwan, between July 2009 and September 2012. Seasonal shifts were observed in the areas with high detected duration of humpback dolphins, which mainly stayed near the river mouth during the dry seasons but moved seaward during rainy seasons and following heavy rainfall. In addition, the gradient of ambient ultrasonic pulses, dominated by snapping shrimp sounds, exhibited regional differences following heavy rainfall. The outward movements of the humpback dolphins and the snapping shrimp sounds in the estuary indicated a temporary trophic-system shift in response to local environmental changes resulting from high volumes of river runoffs. In the future, the seasonal variation in the distribution of humpback dolphins must be considered during the conservation management of this critically endangered population.

Odontoceti emit broadband high-frequency clicks on echolocation for orientation or prey detection. In the Amazon Basin, two odontoceti species, boto (Amazon River dolphin, Inia geoffrensis) and tucuxi (Sotalia fluviatilis), live sympatrically. The acoustic characteristics of the echolocation clicks of free-ranging botos and tucuxis were measured with a hydrophone array consisting of a full-band and an acoustic event recorder (A-tag). The clicks of the two species were short-duration broadband signals. The apparent source level was 201 dB 1 μPa peak-to-peak at 1 m in the botos and 181 dB 1 μPa peak-to-peak at 1 m in the tucuxis, and the centroid frequency was 82.3 kHz in the botos and 93.1 kHz in the tucuxis. The high apparent source level and low centroid frequency are possibly due to the difference in body size or sound production organs, especially the nasal structure, the sound source of clicks in odontoceti.

Broadband sonar echoes received from individual fish in schools contain information that might be useful for species discrimination. The echo characteristics are closely related to the incident angle of the sound to fish body, corresponding to the apparent tilt angle of a fish from a viewpoint of a transducer. Therefore, it is necessary to isolate individual fish echoes and estimate the incident angles. In this study, a broadband split-beam echo sounder system was used to extract features from free-swimming fish schools. Echoes from individual fish in dense schools were measured and their position was estimated using the system with a downward-oriented acoustic beam. Individual fish were tracked in schools of Japanese jack mackerel Trachurus japonicus, chub mackerel Scomber japonicus, and red sea bream Pagrus major with the system. The target strength (TS) spectra of echoes ranging from 80 to 120 kHz were calculated and sorted on the basis of the incident angle, which was estimated by the tracking result. Using this approach, TS spectra were obtained from entire schools of free-swimming fish, and the obtained TS spectra were found to be dependent on fish species and the incident angles of the individual fish involved.

Freshwater cetaceans are among the data deficient and now recognized as the most threatened group of marine mammals. Large scale studies are required to be done on an urgent basis to ensure reasonable chance of survival for these species. A detailed analysis of the freshwater habitats globally, indicate tropical shallow environment (important for the survival of the freshwater cetaceans). Visual surveys being employed for abundance estimates have significant limitations and acoustic surveys have recently been identified as effective alternative and could complement the visual surveys for conservation efforts. However, two major issues can be prominent such as shallow water sound propagation and noise pollutions. It is well known that shallow waters result in multiple interaction of the acoustic signal with the surface and the bottom prior to being received at the hydrophone receiver. The tropical waters further cause random surface and bottom behaviour resulting in substantial site specific underwater channel fluctuations being coupled to the desired marine mammal signal. Thus, the acoustic survey efforts in the tropical shallow habitats are highly sensitive to the local conditions and demand efforts to mitigate the underwater channel fluctuations while pursuing analysis efforts on the received signal. Increasing population in these regions has resulted in unregulated waterborne activities linked to economic growth. Such activities have caused significant increase in the ambient noise in these habitats. The effectiveness of acoustic sensors is further limited by the high ambient noise in the habitat and could also impact survival chances of these critically endangered species. This work attempts to put in perspective the challenges of acoustic surveys in tropical shallow habitats and provide a way ahead for effective passive acoustic monitoring of the freshwater cetaceans globally.

Poyang Lake is the largest freshwater lake in China and flows into the Yangtze River. It is a traditional habitat for the endangered Yangtze finless porpoise, which has not been well investigated. To reveal the distribution of the porpoise in Poyang Lake, 12 passive acoustic surveys were conducted along 123 km of the main channel of the lake during different seasons (spring transition season, wet season, autumn transition season, and dry season) from 2008 to 2012. We counted the number of phonating porpoises encountered and calculated the detection rate (encountered individuals detected per kilometer). The median porpoise detection rates ranged from 0 to 0.65 individuals per kilometer during the different surveys. The highest median detection rate of 0.50 was detected in the autumn transition season. The seasonal shrinking of the lake during the dry season may cause a concentration of porpoises in the narrow channels and a high incidence of collisions with cargo ships and fishing boats. Conservation actions should be focused on the main channel of the lake during the dry and transition seasons. In addition, the expansion of the existing reserve to include areas with high porpoise detection rates is necessary.

The Japanese spiny lobster Panulirus japonicus is an important marine resource in Japan. In order to manage its stock, an effective methodology for population assessments is needed. In this study, we focused on the stridulating sounds produced by spiny lobsters. The stridulating sounds are widely accepted to function as an anti-predator signaling, for potential use in monitoring lobster stocks remotely. An underwater sound recorder was attached on gill nets or lobster pots around Izu Oshima and Niijima islands, within the Izu archipelago, Tokyo, Japan, where lobster fishing is common. Stridulating sounds were manually extracted from each data file. The frequency of stridulating sounds tended to increase on nights with a large tidal change. There was a positive correlation between the frequency of stridulating sounds and the number of lobsters caught in the net or lobster pot. Even in trials where no lobsters were caught, several stridulating sounds could be detected and increased at night. In this study, we describe the sound characteristics of the stridulation, and the trend of nocturnal call productions of this species. This study is the first step towards passive acoustic resource monitoring of Japanese spiny lobsters, which were quite difficult to estimate the density of remotely.

During the Yangtze Freshwater Dolphin Expedition 2012, Yangtze finless porpoises (Neophocaena asiaeorientalis) were acoustically monitored in 9 port areas at night. During 6566 min of nocturnal monitoring, porpoise sonar was detected for 488 min (7.43% of the total time). Of all 81 encounters, the longest echolocation span obtained was 102.9 min, suggesting frequent and prolonged porpoise occupation of the port areas. A combined total of 2091 click trains were recorded, with 129 (6.2%) containing minimum inter-click intervals (ICIs) below 10 ms (termed a buzz). Buzzes with a decrease in ICIs and search and approach phases that resembled feeding echolocation signals accounted for 44.2% (N = 52) of all buzzes. Buzzes with an increase in ICIs, suggesting a mirrored prey capture phase, accounted for 20.2% (N = 26) and could reflect attempts to locate escaped prey because they were followed by approach-phase feeding buzzes. Anecdotal evidence of porpoises fleeing the proximity of vessels was observed. The recordings indicating clusters of porpoises feeding near the port areas suggest a forced choice for feeding due to the relatively higher prey availability in the port areas compared to other areas in the Yangtze River that are probably overfished.

It is very important to recognise marine biodiversity and to maintain sound ocean ecosystems for long-term and continuous utilisation of the ecosystems services. To ensure this end, ocean environment and ecosystem should be monitored over the long term and a wide range of ocean areas. The purpose of this research is a feasibility study of underwater acoustic observations of marine mammals using a passive acoustic data logger, A-tag. Final goal of this research is to realise the long-term and wide-range monitoring of ocean ecosystems using autonomous underwater gliders, and to evaluate the soundness of ocean ecosystems and environments. This paper deals with underwater acoustic observations of killer whales (Orcinus orca) and analyses of their vocalisation. Underwater passive acoustic observations were conducted at the Prince William Sound, Alaska, USA in the summer of 2013. Direction of vocalisation source was analysed from the time arrival difference between two hydrophones of A-tag. It was demonstrated that the result of acoustic observations of killer whales' vocalisations agreed well with their actual behaviours by visual observations.

Commerson's dolphin (Cephalorhynchus commersonii), one of the smallest dolphin species, has been reported to produce only narrow-band high-frequency (NBHF) clicks and no whistles. To clarify their sound repertoire and examine the function of each type, we analysed the sounds and behaviour of captive Commerson's dolphins in Toba Aquarium, Japan. All recorded sounds were NBHF clicks with peak frequency >110kHz. The recorded click-trains were categorised into four types based on the changing pattern of their Inter-click intervals (ICI): Decreasing type, with continuously decreasing ICI during the last part of the train; Increasing type, with continuously increasing ICI during the last part; Fluctuating type, with fluctuating ICI; and Burst-pulse type, with very short and constant ICI. The frequency of the Decreasing type increased when approaching an object newly introduced to the tank, suggesting that the sound is used for echolocation on approach. The Burst-pulse type suddenly increased in front of the object and was often oriented towards it, suggesting that it was used for echolocation in close proximity to the object. In contrast, the Increasing type was rarely recorded during approach, but increased when a dolphin approached another dolphin. The Increasing and Burst-pulse types also increased when dolphins began social behaviours. These results suggest that some NBHF clicks have functions other than echolocation, such as communication.

The Istanbul Strait (Bosphorus) is a part of the Turkish Straits System, connecting the Aegean Sea and the Black Sea. There are three cetacean species in the Strait, namely the harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena), the common dolphin (Delphinus delphis), and the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus). To monitor the presence of the cetaceans, a fixed stereo passive acoustic monitoring system (A-tag) was deployed in the middle of the Strait from July 2009 to September 2010. In total 26,814 click trains were detected. Presence, direction and inter-click intervals of phonating cetaceans were measured. Most click trains were detected during the night time. Diel presence pattern was prominent in March and April. In spring, the cetaceans were concentrated in one specific direction from the fixed monitoring system. In contrast, they were found in all directions for the rest of the year. Short range sonar (inter-click intervals (ICIs) less than 50 ms) was commonly detected in spring. During the rest of the year ICIs could reach up to 150 ms. All these findings suggest that they were feeding or socializing in spring and mostly travelling in the other seasons. It is well known that pelagic fish such as sprat and bluefish start their migration from the Aegean Sea to the Black Sea in spring. This study suggests that the cetaceans use the middle part of the Strait for feeding on the pelagic fish in spring when the fish migration has just started. © 2013 Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom .

Studies of the feeding behaviour of aquatic species in their natural environment are difficult, since direct observations are rarely possible. In this study, a newly developed animal-borne underwater sound recorder (AUSOMS-mini) was applied to captive Amazonian (Trichechus inunguis) and Antillean (Trichechus manatus manatus) manatees in order to directly record their feeding sounds. Different species of aquatic plants were offered to the manatees separately. Feeding sounds were automatically extracted using a custom program developed with MATLAB. Compared to ground truth data, the program correctly detected 65-79% of the feeding events, with a 7.3% or lower false alarm rate, which suggests that this methodology is a useful recorder of manatee feeding events. All manatees foraged during both the daytime and night-time. However, manatees tended to be less active and masticated slower during the night than during the day. The manatee mastication cycle duration depended on plant species and individual. This animal-borne acoustic monitoring system could greatly increase our knowledge of manatee feeding ecology by providing the exact time, duration and number of feeding events, and potentially the plant species being fed on. © 2013 Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom .

Fixed passive acoustic monitoring can be used for long-term recording of vocalizing cetaceans. Both presence monitoring and animal density estimation requires the call rates and sound source levels of vocalizations produced by single animals. In this study, blue whale calls were recorded using acoustic bio-logging systems in Skjálfandi Bay off Húsavík, Northeast Iceland, in June 2012. An accelerometer was attached to individual whales to monitor diving behavior. During 21 h recording two individuals, 8 h 45 min and 13 h 2 min, respectively, 105 and 104 lunge feeding events and four calls were recorded. All recorded calls were down-sweep calls ranging from 105 to 48 Hz. The sound duration was 1-2 s. The source level was estimated to be between 158 and 169 dB re 1μPa rms, assuming spherical sound propagation from the possible sound source location to the tag. The observed sound production rates and source levels of individual blue whales during feeding were extremely small compared with those observed previously in breeding grounds. The feeding whales were nearly acoustically invisible. The function of calls during feeding remains unknown. © 2014 Acoustical Society of America.

A simple discrimination method between Delphinidae and Phocoenidae based on the comparison of the intensity ratios of two band frequencies (130 and 70 kHz) is proposed. Biosonar signals were recorded at the Istanbul Strait (Bosphorus) in Turkey. Simultaneously, the presence of the species was confirmed by visual observation. Two types of thresholds of two-band intensity ratios, fixed and dynamic threshold, were tested for identification. The correct detection and false alarm rates for porpoises were 0.55 and 0.06 by using the fixed threshold and 0.74 and 0.08 by using the dynamic threshold, respectively. When the dynamic threshold was employed, the appropriate threshold changed depending on the mix ratio of recorded sounds from both Delphinidae and Phocoenidae. Even under biased mix ratios from 26% to 82%, the dynamic threshold worked with >0.80 correct detection and <0.20 false alarm rates, whereas the fixed threshold did not. The proposed method is simple but quantitative, which can be applicable for any broadband recording system, including a single hydrophone with two frequency band detectors. © 2014 Acoustical Society of America.

Passive acoustic monitoring for cetaceans mainly employ fixed-location methods or point transect samplings; an acoustic survey from a moving platform to conduct line transects is less common. In this study, acoustic capture-recapture by combining a double-observer method with line transect sampling was performed to observe Yangtze finless porpoises. Two acoustic devices were towed with the distance between them varying 0.5 to 89.5 m. The conditional probabilities that both devices would detect the porpoises within the same time window were calculated. In a 1-s time window, it became smaller as the distance between the devices increased, approaching zero when the distance between them was more than 50 m. It was considered that the devices with less than 50m distance detected the same signals from the same animals, which means the identical detection. When the distance between them is too great, the recapture rate is reduced and the incidence of false matching may increase. Thus, a separation distance of around 50m between two devices in acoustic capture-recapture of Yangtze finless porpoises was recommended. Note that the performance of the double detections can change depending on the particular device used and on animal behaviors such as vocalizing interval, ship avoidance. (C) 2014 Acoustical Society of America.

Detection of animals during visual surveys is rarely perfect or constant, and failure to account for imperfect detectability affects the accuracy of abundance estimates. Freshwater cetaceans are among the most threatened group of mammals, and visual surveys are a commonly employed method for estimating population size despite concerns over imperfect and unquantified detectability. We used a combined visual-acoustic survey to estimate detectability of Ganges River dolphins (Platanista gangetica gangetica) in four waterways of southern Bangladesh. The combined visual-acoustic survey resulted in consistently higher detectability than a single observer-team visual survey, thereby improving power to detect trends. Visual detectability was particularly low for dolphins close to meanders where these habitat features temporarily block the view of the preceding river surface. This systematic bias in detectability during visual-only surveys may lead researchers to underestimate the importance of heavily meandering river reaches. Although the benefits of acoustic surveys are increasingly recognised for marine cetaceans, they have not been widely used for monitoring abundance of freshwater cetaceans due to perceived costs and technical skill requirements. We show that acoustic surveys are in fact a relatively cost-effective approach for surveying freshwater cetaceans, once it is acknowledged that methods that do not account for imperfect detectability are of limited value for monitoring. © 2014 Richman et al.

Information on the habitat use of the critically endangered Yangtze finless porpoise (Neophocaena asiaeorientalis asiaeorientalis) is critical for its conservation. The diel biosonar behavior of the porpoise in the port areas of the Yangtze River was examined along with simultaneous observations of fish density and boat traffic. Biosonar pulses from the porpoises were detected for 1233 min (5.77%) over a 21,380 min duration of effective observations. In total, 190 (5.63%) buzzes (an indication of prey capture attempts) were recorded among the 3372 identified click trains. Of the 168 echolocation encounters (bouts of click trains less than eight min apart), 150 (89.3%) involved single animals, indicating that solitary porpoises were frequently present and feeding in the port areas. Significant diel patterns were evident involving the biosonar behavior of the porpoises (including click trains and buzzes), fish density and boat traffic. The frequencies of the click trains and buzzes were significantly lower during the day than in the evening and at night, which suggests that porpoises in this region are primarily engaged in crepuscular and nocturnal foraging. The lack of a significant diel pattern in the echolocation encounters indicates the importance of the port in porpoise conservation. A forced feeding schedule may be associated with the lack of a significant correlation between porpoise acoustics and boat traffic. Overall, prey availability appears to be the primary factor that attracts porpoises. Additionally, porpoises tend to migrate or remain downstream in the morning and migrate or remain upstream in the evening, most likely to follow their prey. The findings of this study can be used to improve the conservation of the Yangtze finless porpoise.

DONET (Dense Ocean-floor Network system for Earthquakes and Tsunamis) is a submarine cabled real-time observation network for earthquakes and tsunamis monitoring around the Nankai trough, southwestern Japan. The scheduled twenty observatories have operated since August 2011. Various sensors such as a broadband seismometer, a pressure gauge, a hydrophone, etc. are equipped with each observatory, because DONET has expected to obtain the data to understand the Nankai trough mega thrust earthquake seismogenic zones. Therefore, in order to supply data stably, it's important to have a method of an investigation of the performance of each sensor in DONET.
In this research, we will evaluate the performance of a hydrophone of DONET. The reference hydrophone was installed several meters from an observatory of DONET. Here, it assumes that both hydrophones will record the acoustic data according to same sound source. And, we will evaluate the performance of a hydrophone by the comparison between reference hydrophone and DONET's one in actual field, and will report the result of the evaluations.

The Yangtze finless porpoise (Neophocaena asiaeorientalis asiaeorientalis) is a highly threatened cetacean endemic to the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River that has suffered a dramatic decline in recent decades. We characterize and quantify recent distribution patterns of porpoises in the Yangtze River in order to facilitate strategic management of existing in situ cetacean reserves and maximize effective utilization of limited conservation resources. We calculated porpoise relative abundance (encounter rate) using a 1-km moving average along the Yangtze main stem based on a combined visual and acoustic survey conducted in 2006. We then evaluated conservation priority areas based on encounter rates along the river. High-porpoise density areas (>0.20porpoiseskm-1) cover approximately one-third (33.9%, 599km) of the survey area and contain approximately two-thirds of the porpoise population, making them priority areas for porpoise conservation. In contrast, low-porpoise density areas (≤0.05porpoiseskm-1) cover 28.8% (509km) of the survey area but contain only 4.5% of the porpoise population, and may already be of little value for porpoise conservation. Five high-priority porpoise conservation sites and five sections that now contain few or no surviving porpoises are identified. Proposed spatial modifications to existing reserves and associated conservation recommendations are made for five existing protected areas along the Yangtze main stem, and we emphasize that some additional river sections should urgently be designated as new protected areas given their high porpoise density. Our approach for identifying conservation priorities may provide lessons for reserve design and management in other protected area networks. © 2013 The Zoological Society of London.

We monitored the underwater movements of Ganges River dolphins using stationed stereo acoustic data loggers. We estimated these movements using changes in the relative angle of the sound source direction (trajectory). Of the total acoustic recordings (66h), 26.2% contained trajectories of dolphins, and 78.6% of these trajectories involved single animals, suggesting that dolphins tended to swim alone and were localized near the monitoring station. The observed trajectories were categorized as follows: staying type characterized by small changes in the sound source direction, moving type A (moving in the same direction), and moving type B (moving up and down the stream during recording). The average interpulse intervals of sounds in moving types A and B were significantly shorter than that of the staying type, suggesting that dolphins produce the former types of trajectories to echolocate across shorter distances during movement. The frequency of occurrence of moving type A increased during the night, whereas that of type B increased in the late afternoon and that of the staying type increased during the daytime. These results indicate that dolphins moving at night tended to use short-range echolocation, whereas during the day, they remained in relatively small areas and used long-range sonar.

Most studies on tonal sounds extract contour parameters from fundamental frequencies. The presence of harmonics and the frequency distribution of multiple tonal sounds have not been well researched. To investigate the occurrence and frequency modulation of cetacean tonal sounds, the procedure of detecting the instantaneous frequency bandwidth of tonal spectral peaks was integrated within the local-max detector to extract adopted frequencies. The adopted frequencies, considered the representative frequencies of tonal sounds, are used to find the presence of harmonics and overlapping tonal sounds. The utility and detection performance are demonstrated on acoustic recordings of five species from two databases. The recordings of humpback dolphins showed a 75% detection rate with a 5% false detection rate, and recordings from the MobySound archive showed an 85% detection rate with a 5% false detection rate. These detections were achieved in signal-to-noise ratios of -12 to 21 dB. The parameters that measured the distribution of adopted frequency, as well as the prominence of harmonics and overlaps, indicate that the modulation of tonal sounds varied among different species and behaviors. This algorithm can be applied to studies on cetacean communication signals and long-term passive acoustic monitoring. (C) 2013 Acoustical Society of America.

Abundance estimation of marine mammals requires matching of detection of an animal or a group of animal by two independent means. A multimodal detection model using visual and acoustic cues (surfacing and phonation) that enables abundance estimation of dolphins is proposed. The method does not require a specific time window to match the cues of both means for applying mark-recapture method. The proposed model was evaluated using data obtained in field observations of Ganges River dolphins and Irrawaddy dolphins, as examples of dispersed and condensed distributions of animals, respectively. The acoustic detection probability was approximately 80%, 20% higher than that of visual detection for both species, regardless of the distribution of the animals in present study sites. The abundance estimates of Ganges River dolphins and Irrawaddy dolphins fairly agreed with the numbers reported in previous monitoring studies. The single animal detection probability was smaller than that of larger cluster size, as predicted by the model and confirmed by field data. However, dense groups of Irrawaddy dolphins showed difference in cluster sizes observed by visual and acoustic methods. Lower detection probability of single clusters of this species seemed to be caused by the clumped distribution of this species. © 2013 Acoustical Society of America.

This paper offers the first study of diurnal variations in the use of an estuarine habitat by Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins. Passive acoustic data loggers were deployed in the Xin Huwei River Estuary, Western Taiwan, from July 2009 to December 2010, to collect biosonar clicks. Acoustic encounter rates of humpback dolphins on the riverside of the estuary changed significantly over the four tidal phases, instead of the two diurnal phases based on the recordings from 268 days. Among the tidal phases, the encounter rates were lowest during ebb tides. Additionally, circling movements associated with the hunt for epipelagic fish significantly changed in temporal and spatial presence over the four tidal phases, matching the overall pattern of encounter rate changes in the focal estuary. Our findings suggest that the occurrence pattern and habitat utilization of humpback dolphins are likely to be influenced by the tidal-driven activity of their epipelagic prey. © 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.

The biosonar (click train) production rate of ten Yangtze finless porpoises and their behavior were examined using animal-borne data loggers. The sound production rate varied from 0 to 290 click trains per 10-min time interval. Large individual differences were observed, regardless of body size. Taken together, however, sound production did not differ significantly between daytime and nighttime. Over the 172.5 h of analyzed recordings, an average of 99.0% of the click trains were produced within intervals of less than 60 s, indicating that during a 1-min interval, the number of click trains produced by each porpoise was typically greater than one. Most of the porpoises exhibited differences in average swimming speed and depth between day and night. Swimming speed reductions and usage of short-range sonar, which relates to prey-capture attempts, were observed more often during nighttime. However, biosonar appears to be affected not only by porpoise foraging, but also by their sensory environment, i.e., the turbid Yangtze River system. These features will be useful for passive acoustic detection of the porpoises. Calculations of porpoise density or abundance should be conducted carefully because large individual differences in the sound production rate will lead to large estimation error. (C) 2013 Acoustical Society of America.

For the first time bio-logging tags were attached to free-ranging white-beaked dolphins, Lagenorhynchus albirostris. A satellite tag was attached to one animal while an acoustic A-tag, a time-depth recorder and a VHF transmitter complex was attached to a second dolphin with a suction cup. The satellite tag transmitted for 201 day, during which time the dolphin stayed in the coastal waters of western Iceland. The acoustic tag complex was on the second animal for 13 h and 40 min and provided the first insight into the echolocation behaviour of a free-ranging white-beaked dolphin. The tag registered 162 dives. The dolphin dove to a maximum depth of 45 m, which is about the depth of the bay in which the dolphin was swimming. Two basic types of dives were identified; U-shaped and V-shaped dives. The dolphin used more time in U-shaped dives, more clicks and sonar signals with shorter click intervals compared to those it used in V-shaped dives. The dolphin was in acoustic contact with other dolphins about five hours after it was released and stayed with these for the rest of the tagging time. Possible foraging attempts were found based on the reduction of click intervals from about 100 ms to 2-3 ms, which suggests a prey capture attempt. We found 19 punitive prey capture attempts and of these 53% occurred at the maximum dive depth. This suggests that more than half of the possible prey capture events occurred at or near the sea bed. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

This study presents bioacoustic recordings in combination with movements and diving behavior of three free-ranging harbor porpoises (a female and two males) in Danish waters. Each porpoise was equipped with an acoustic data logger (A-tag), a time-depth-recorder, a VHF radio transmitter, and a satellite transmitter. The units were programmed to release after 24 or 72h. Possible foraging occurred mostly near the surface or at the bottom of a dive. The porpoises showed individual diversity in biosonar activity (&lt;100 to &gt;50,000 clicks per hour) and in dive frequency (6179 dives per hour). We confirm that wild harbor porpoises use more intense clicks than captive animals. A positive tendency between number of dives and clicks per hour was found for a subadult male, which stayed near shore. It showed a distinct day-night cycle with low echolocation rates during the day, but five times higher rates and higher dive activity at night. A female traveling in open waters showed no diel rhythm, but its sonar activity was three times higher compared to the males'. Considerable individual differences in dive and echolocation activity could have been influenced by biological and physical factors, but also show behavioral adaptability necessary for survival in a complex coastal environment.

The by-catch of bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus) has been serious problem for commercial fisheries of skip jack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis) due to the strong constrain of quarter for each species. Selective catch of skip jack tuna with avoiding by-catch of bigeye tuna is required for sustainable and effective fisheries. Light stimuli were applied in attempts to remove unnecessary tuna species and let them escape through the mesh or underneath of a round net. The movements of fish were observed with coded pingers (passive method) and a broadband quantitative split-beam echo sounder (active method). Newly introduced micro coded pinger (Fusion Inc., Tokyo) for this observation resulted in longer survival or / and retention of tagged fish comparing with previous survey periods. Three hydrophone array systems were deployed on each survey ships (Shoyo-maru, Nippon-maru, and Nippon-maru's boat). The pinger transmitted 31 bits M-sequence signal every 1 second. Movements of multiple tagged fish were able to be observed at the same time. Not only depth change of each fish, but also three dimensional locations could be calculated. In the mean time, schools of fish were observed by the broadband echo sounder near the FADs. The 3D tracks of fishes which were estimated by active way with high distance resolution showed the fish swam deeper at sun rising that was consistent with passive monitoring result. Consequently large data sets of the movement of in situ bigeye tuna and skipjack tuna around FADs were obtained. © 2013 IEEE.

Abundance estimation of marine mammals requires matching of detection of an animal or a group of animals by two independent means. A multimodal detection model using visual and acoustic cues (surfacing and phonation) that enables abundance estimation of dolphins is proposed. The method does not require a specific time window to match the cues of both means for applying mark-recapture method. The proposed model was evaluated using data obtained in field observations of Ganges River dolphins and Irrawaddy dolphins, as examples of dispersed and condensed distributions of animals, respectively. The acoustic detection probability was approximately 80 %, 20 % higher than that of visual detection for both species, regardless of the distribution of the animals in the present study sites. The abundance estimates of Ganges River dolphins and Irrawaddy dolphins fairly agreed with the numbers reported in previous monitoring studies. The single animal detection probability was smaller than that of larger cluster size, as predicted by the model and confirmed by field data. However, dense groups of Irrawaddy dolphins showed difference in cluster sizes observed by visual and acoustic methods. Lower detection probability of single clusters of this species seemed to be caused by the clumped distribution of this species. © 2013 IEEE.

DONET (Dense Ocean-floor Network system for Earthquakes and Tsunamis) is a submarine cabled real-time observation network for earthquakes and tsunamis monitoring around the Nankai trough, southwestern Japan. The scheduled twenty observatories have operated since August 2011. Various sensors such as a broadband seismometer, a pressure gauge, a hydrophone, etc. are equipped with each observatory, because DONET has expected to obtain the data to understand the Nankai trough mega thrust earthquake seismogenic zones. Therefore, in order to supply data stably, it's important to have a method of an investigation of the performance of each sensor in DONET. In this research, we will evaluate the performance of a hydrophone of DONET. The reference hydrophone was installed several meters from an observatory of DONET. Here, it assumes that both hydrophones will record the acoustic data according to same sound source. And, we will evaluate the performance of a hydrophone by the comparison between reference hydrophone and DONET's one in actual field, and will report the result of the evaluations. © 2013 IEEE.

It is required to monitor fish species and amount in order to save marine resources. In the current study, broadband split-beam echo sounder was used to survey fish resources. The echo sounder was useful to track individual fish in schools because individual fish echoes in the schools could be separately measured and three dimensional positions of the echoes could be accurately estimated. It is well known that the acoustic features of fish echoes are closely related to the body length and the apparent tilt angle of a fish. The tilt angle could be estimated by individual tracking. Echoes from fish schools were measured for several hours in the ocean. Echo signals were gathered into one block within a certain depth and a period of time and analyzed to track individual fish in the schools. Target strength was calculated from the individual fish echo and associated with the tilt angle, which was estimated by the individual tracking result. The feature in each block was statistically calculated by averaging target strengths based on the tilt angles. The blocks of the signals were classified by K-means method with the features and divided into some clusters. As a result of the clustering, fish schools in the blocks could be classified. The distribution of the clusters was dependent on both time and depth. © 2013 IEEE.

Responding to the increasing number, size, and speed of commercial ships, the underwater noise is also increasing which could result in a possible adverse impact on marine lives. For clarifying this possible concern, a method for measurement of ship noise and marine lives is required, especially for marine mammals which are sensitive for the frequency range of ship noise. In order to enable to observe marine mammal's behavior and the ship noise simultaneously, this study developed an algorithm to detect ship noise, added to a conventional dolphin detection algorithm. The ship noise is obtained by eliminating some nature sounds and the dolphin's sonar sound. Both dolphin's sounds and ship noises can be separated efficiently so that the noise can be identified using sample data. Further improvement of monitoring system and algorithm are future tasks. © IFAC.

Monitoring fish species and amount with acoustical instruments is a challenging problem to survey fish resources in the ocean. Broadband split-beam echo sounder was useful to observe individual fish behavior in schools. Echoes from fish schools were measured from an anchored vessel for several hours. Echo signals were gathered into one block within a certain depth and a period of time and analyzed to track individual fish in the schools. Target strength was calculated from the individual fish echo and associated with tilt angle which could be estimated by using the tracking result. Feature in each block was statistically calculated by averaging target strengths according to the tilt angles. The blocks of the signals were clustered by K-means method with the features and divided into some clusters. The distribution of the clusters in time and depth was investigated. It appeared that the distributions of the clusters were dependent on both time and depth. Clustering of the features would be effective to monitor diversity of fish in the ocean. © 2013 Acoustical Society of America.

The Yangtze River dolphin or baiji (Lipotes vexillifer), an obligate freshwater odontocete known only from the middle-lower Yangtze River system and neighbouring Qiantang River in eastern China, has long been recognized as one of the world's rarest and most threatened mammal species. The status of the baiji has not been investigated since the late 1990s, when the surviving population was estimated to be as low as 13 individuals. An intensive six-week multivessel visual and acoustic survey carried out in November-December 2006, covering the entire historical range of the baiji in the main Yangtze channel, failed to find any evidence that the species survives. We are forced to conclude that the baiji is now likely to be extinct, probably due to unsustainable by-catch in local fisheries. This represents the first global extinction of a large vertebrate for over 50 years, only the fourth disappearance of an entire mammal family since AD 1500, and the first cetacean species to be driven to extinction by human activity. Immediate and extreme measures may be necessary to prevent the extinction of other endangered cetaceans, including the sympatric Yangtze finless porpoise (Neophocaena phocaenoides asiaeorientalis). © 2007 The Royal Society.

The Yangtze finless porpoise (Neophocaena asiaeorientalis asiaeorientalis) is an endangered freshwater porpoise subspecies unique to the Yangtze River basin. Seasonal variations in local distribution of the animal, as well as fish presence, sand dredging, ship navigation, and bridges were examined as potential factors affecting the occurrence of the animals. Passive acoustic surveys were performed regularly from May 2007 to August 2010, near the conjunction of the Yangtze River and Poyang Lake. The distribution of the porpoises was seasonally site-specific. In May and August, the animals were detected more often at river junctions than in the lake, but vice versa from November to February. The rate of the porpoise detection was significantly higher in areas of fish presence than in areas of absence. The number of porpoises detected did not differ significantly between the sand dredging operation and the prohibition period (in 2008), although the number of vessels obviously declined in 2008. Ship traffic and bridges also did not appear to affect the presence of porpoises. These results showed the relative importance of the various environmental factors, which is important for conservation of not only Yangtze finless porpoise but also endangered isolated cetaceans. © 2011 by the Society for Marine Mammalogy.

Distribution pattern of dugongs is a key component for space-based managements. Vocal interaction of dugongs may result in a distinctive distribution pattern. This study described the distribution patterns of vocalising dugongs, solitary and cow-calf pairs of dugongs. Total of 31 hours and 24 minutes of aerial surveys over southern Thai waters were conducted to observe distribution of the dugongs in 2006, 2008 and 2010. We also conducted towed acoustic surveys to observe the distribution of vocalising dugongs. Total of 473 adult dugongs and 122 calves and 223 vocalizations were found. The distribution of vocalising dugongs was clumped with the range of about 1 km 2. Groups with cow-calf pairs (9 animals on average) were also clumped. Their distribution range was about 3 km2 and did not overlap that of vocalising dugongs. Average number of individuals in groups without cow-calf pairs was about 1, indicating that the most of the group members were solitary. They distributed widely throughout the focal area with the distribution range of about 41 km2.

The broadband target strength (TS) pattern could be estimated from echoes of the tethered fish by using the broadband signal. This TS pattern was computed by Fourier transform from outputs of cross-correlation function between the emitted signal and echoes from each fish at each tilt angle. Since echoes from fish included multiple reflections, the TS spectra included the interferences among them, as shown in Fig. 4. The degrees of these interferences could be computed by the average of enveloped cepstral patterns at the time, which is larger than 25 microseconds, corresponding to 18 mm along the range axis. As shown in Fig. 5 (b), these degrees were different with four species at the negative tilt angles while these were almost same with them at the positive tilt angles. As shown in Fig.5 (a), it was clarified that averaged TS was changed dependent on fish species and tilt angles.

Background: Observing and monitoring the underwater social interactions of cetaceans is challenging. Therefore, previous cetacean studies have monitored these interactions by surface observations. However, because cetaceans spend most of their time underwater, it is important that their underwater behavior is also continuously monitored to better understand their social relationships and social structure. The finless porpoise is small and has no dorsal fin. It is difficult to observe this species in the wild, and little is known of its sociality.
Methodology/Principal Findings: The swim depths of 6 free-ranging finless porpoises were simultaneously recorded using a time-synchronized bio-logging system. Synchronous diving was used as an index of association. Two pairs, # 27 (an immature female estimated to be 3.5 years old) and # 32 (an adult male), # 28 (a juvenile male estimated to be 2 years old) and # 29 (an adult male), tended to participate in long periods of synchronized diving more frequently than 13 other possible pairs, indicating that the 4 porpoises chose their social partners. The adult males (# 32, # 29) tended to follow the immature female (# 27) and juvenile male (# 28), respectively. However, during synchronized diving, the role of an initiator often changed within the pair, and their body movements appeared to be non-agonistic, e. g., rubbing of bodies against one another instead of that on one-side, as observed with chasing and escaping behaviors.
Conclusions/Significance: The present study employed a time-synchronized bio-logging method to observe the social relationships of free-ranging aquatic animals based on swimming depth. The results suggest that certain individuals form associations even if they are not a mother and calf pair. Long synchronized dives occurred when particular members were reunited, and this suggests that the synchronized dives were not a by-product of opportunistic aggregation.

In order to periodically investigate the population and distribution of the Yangtze finless porpoise (Neophocaena asiaeorientalis asiaeorientalis) in its main distribution range in the Yangtze River, a passive acoustic system deployed on a cargo ship as a moving platform, rather than a dedicated research ship, was developed. A stereo acoustic event data-logger (A-tag) was installed on the cargo ship to passively detect phonating animals. In three surveys carried out in the Yangtze River from Wuhan to Shanghai, an average of 6059 clicks in each survey and 284 porpoises in total were acoustically detected along an 1100-km stretch. The animals were detected frequently in most of the survey range except two "gap sections" with 40 and 60 km lengths, respectively, where no animals were detected in all three surveys. Detected group sizes of the animals in each 120-s time window were not significantly different among the surveys, but the distribution pattern was different and suggested seasonal migration. The cargo ship based passive acoustic survey was effective in detecting phonating animals and can potentially monitor the distribution and population trend over time. Compared to surveys that used dedicated research ships, the present method is more cost effective. (C) 2011 Acoustical Society of America. [DOI: 10.1121/1.3625257]

The effect of noise on marine life is one of the big unknowns of current marine science. Considerable evidence exists that the human contribution to ocean noise has increased during the past few decades: human noise has become the dominant component of marine noise in some regions, and noise is directly correlated with the increasing industrialization of the ocean. Sound is an important factor in the lives of many marine organisms, and theory and increasing observations suggest that human noise could be approaching levels at which negative effects on marine life may be occurring. Certain species already show symptoms of the effects of sound. Although some of these effects are acute and rare, chronic sublethal effects may be more prevalent, but are difficult to measure. We need to identify the thresholds of such effects for different species and be in a position to predict how increasing anthropogenic sound will add to the effects. To achieve such predictive capabilities, the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR) and the Partnership for Observation of the Global Oceans (POGO) are developing an International Quiet Ocean Experiment (IQOE), with the objective of coordinating the international research community to both quantify the ocean sound scape and examine the functional relationship between sound and the viability of key marine organisms. SCOR and POGO will convene an open science meeting to gather community input on the important research, observations, and modeling activities that should be included in IQOE. © 2011 by The Oceanography Society. All rights reserved.

Dugongs (Dugong dugon) produce bird-like calls such as chirps and trills. The vocal responses of dugongs to playbacks of several acoustic stimuli were investigated. Animals were exposed to four different playback stimuli: a recorded chirp from a wild dugong, a synthesized down-sweep sound, a synthesized constant-frequency sound, and silence. Wild dugongs vocalized more frequently after playback of broadcast chirps than that after constant-frequency sounds or silence. The down-sweep sound also elicited more vocal responses than did silence. No significant difference was found between the broadcast chirps and the down-sweep sound. The ratio of wild dugong chirps to all calls and the dominant frequencies of the wild dugong calls were significantly higher during playbacks of broadcast chirps, down-sweep sounds, and constant-frequency sounds than during those of silence. The source level and duration of dugong chirps increased significantly as signaling distance increased. No significant correlation was found between signaling distance and the source level of trills. These results show that dugongs vocalize to playbacks of frequency-modulated signals and suggest that the source level of dugong chirps may be manipulated to compensate for transmission loss between the source and receiver. This study provides the first behavioral observations revealing the function of dugong chirps. (C) 2011 Acoustical Society of America. [DOI: 10.1121/1.3586791]

Field recordings of echolocation signals produced by Heaviside's dolphins (Cephalorhynchus heavisidii) were made off the coast of South Africa using a hydrophone array system. The system consisted of three hydrophones and an A-tag (miniature stereo acoustic data-logger). The mean centroid frequency was 125 kHz, with a -3 dB bandwidth of 15 kHz and -10 dB duration of 74 s. The mean back-calculated apparent source level was 173 dB re 1 Pa p.-p.. These characteristics are very similar to those found in other Cephalorhynchus species, and such narrow-band high-frequency echolocation clicks appear to be a defining characteristic of the Cephalorhynchus genus. Click bursts with very short inter-click intervals (up to 2 ms) were also recorded, which produced the cry sound reported in other Cephalorhynchus species. Since inter-click intervals correlated positively to click duration and negatively to bandwidth, Heaviside's dolphins may adjust their click duration and bandwidth based on detection range. The bimodal distribution of the peak frequency and stable bimodal peaks in spectra of individual click suggest a slight asymmetry in the click production mechanism. © 2011 Acoustical Society of America.

To understand the mechanism of the peripheral auditory system of the cephalopod statocyst, the frequency dependence of particle motion sensitivity in cephalopods was estimated using a physical model of the sensory system, which was assumed to be forced oscillation. Reported perception thresholds of Sepia officinalis, Octopus vulgaris, and O. ocellatus fit the model well at low frequencies, whereas at frequencies above 150 Hz, the empirically measured threshold increased more steeply than the predicted increment. These results indicate that the frequency response of the perception threshold of cephalopods to particle motion can be primarily understood using the forced oscillation model, while unknown factor(s) play a role in the higher frequency range. Cephalopods are thought to be sensitive to low-frequency particle motion rather than high-frequency motion. The evolutionary function of cephalopod acoustical perception is not clear
however, the data suggest that they recognize the low-frequency particle motion that may be generated by prey, predators, and conspecifics. © 2011 The Acoustical Society of Japan.

A multi-platform ultrasonic event recorder for towing and stationed monitoring of cetaceans was developed. A stereo acoustic event recorder (A-tag) was originally developed to observe biosonar behavior by tagging on dolphins and porpoises in the wild. In recent years, A-tag has been applied for the acoustic transect to count the number of dolphins and porpoises, and for the long term stationed observation. © 2011 IEEE.

A method is presented to estimate the density of finless porpoises using stationed passive acoustic monitoring. The number of click trains detected by stereo acoustic data loggers (A-tag) was converted to an estimate of the density of porpoises. First, an automated off-line filter was developed to detect a click train among noise, and the detection and false-alarm rates were calculated. Second, a density estimation model was proposed. The cue-production rate was measured by biologging experiments. The probability of detecting a cue and the area size were calculated from the source level, beam patterns, and a sound-propagation model. The effect of group size on the cue-detection rate was examined. Third, the proposed model was applied to estimate the density of finless porpoises at four locations from the Yangtze River to the inside of Poyang Lake. The estimated mean density of porpoises in a day decreased from the main stream to the lake. Long-term monitoring during 466 days from June 2007 to May 2009 showed variation in the density 0-4.79. However, the density was fewer than 1 porpoise/ km2 during 94% of the period. These results suggest a potential gap and seasonal migration of the population in the bottleneck of Poyang Lake. © 2010 Acoustical Society of America.

Data on distribution, abundance, ecology, and behavior are essential for conservation and management of endangered animals in the wild. Yangtze finless porpoise (Neophocaena phocaenoides asiaeorientalis) is an endangered small odontocete species, living exclusively in the Yangtze River and its connecting Poyang and Dongting Lakes. Frequent production of high-frequency bio-sonar signals allows the animal to be detectable using passive acoustic methods. Recently, a stereo acoustic event data-logger (A-tag) has been used extensively to detect the animal by using both fixed and mobile platforms. The passive acoustic monitoring methods were not only successful in detecting the presence of animals, but also in counting, localizing, and tracking phonating individuals. Underwater behavior observed acoustically helped to assess possible effects of vessels on the animals during acoustic surveys. © 2010 Acoustical Society of America.

A number of local populations of finless porpoises (Neophocaena phocaenoides) are widely distributed throughout the warm coastal waters of Asia. The Omura Bay population, consisting of approximately 300 individuals, is the smallest of five populations inhabiting Japanese waters. It is a relatively new population that established after the global warming that took place approximately 9000 years ago. To observe whether these porpoises appear in the major corridor to the ocean from Omura Bay, we used acoustic monitoring to record occurrences of finless porpoises from November 2007 to May 2009. A stereo acoustic event recorder recorded the intensity and the sound source direction of biosonar signals, providing independent traces of sound sources corresponding to each detected animal. A total of 226 individuals were detected over the 1.5-year monitoring period, of which 76% occurred at night and 73% occurred during March and April. We compared the presence of porpoises to the Japanese anchovy catch in Omura Bay and the Hario Strait over the same period. Results suggested that possible reductions in anchovy resources in the bay could attract porpoises to the outside of their normal habitat. In total, 70% of the porpoise recordings took place when the tidal current was moving out of Omura Bay. Porpoises might follow the prey that are transported out of the bay due to the strong outbound current. The finless porpoises confined to the bay might extend their swimming area if prey is available. © Springer-Verlag 2010.

This chapter presents preliminary results on the distribution pattern of Yangtze finless porpoises (Neophocaena phocaenoides asiaeorientalis) in the Poyang Lake mouth area by using passive acoustic data-loggers at four different stations. Porpoise sounds were detected at all stations but their abundance decreased as the distance from the Yantze River increased. Porpoises were detected swimming both upstream to the Poyang Lake and downstream to the Yangtze River as well as between railway and highway bridges at the end of the lake. They were detected 13.9% of the total time monitored, and detected less frequently between 05:00 and 10:00 and between 15:00 and 18:00 during heavier shipping traffic. Also, there were relatively vacant periods between July 12 and July 28, 2007, and between August 5 and August 22, 2007, when virtually no porpoises were detected while there was a reversal of water current or increased water turbulence in the mouth area. These results suggest that movement and genetic communication between porpoise groups in the Yangtze River section and Poyang Lake might still remain, and therefore, the groups should be considered collectively, as a uniform unit for conservation. Bridge construction, shipping traffic, and current (turbulence and direction), might have affected the presence or movement pattern of porpoises in the study area and should be included in future conservation plans. © 2010 by Nova Science Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.

Dolphins and porpoises have excellent biosonar ability, which they use for navigation, ranging and foraging. However, the role of biosonar in free-ranging small cetaceans has not been fully investigated. The biosonar behaviour and body movements of 15 free-ranging finless porpoises (Neophocaena phocaenoides) were observed using electronic tags attached to the animals. The porpoises often rotated their bodies more than 60 deg., on average, around the body axis in a dive bout. This behaviour occupied 31% of the dive duration during 186. h of effective observation time. Rolling dives were associated with extensive searching effort, and 23% of the rolling dive time was phonated, almost twice the phonation ratio of upright dives. Porpoises used short inter-click interval sonar 4.3 times more frequently during rolling dives than during upright dives. Sudden speed drops, which indicated that an individual turned around, occurred 4.5 times more frequently during rolling dives than during upright dives. Together, these data suggest that the porpoises searched extensively for targets and rolled their bodies to enlarge the search area by changing the narrow beam axis of the biosonar. Once a possible target was detected, porpoises frequently produced short-range sonar sounds. Continuous searching for prey and frequent capture trials appeared to occur during rolling dives of finless porpoises. In contrast, head movements ranging +/- 2 cm, which can also change the beam axis, were regularly observed during both dives. Head movements might assist in instant assessment of the arbitrary direction by changing the beam axis rather than prey searching and pursuit.

Dugongs (Dugong dugon) were monitored using simultaneous passive acoustic methods and visual observations in Thai waters during January 2008. Chirp and trill calls were detected by a towed stereo hydrophone array system. Two teams of experienced observers conducted standard visual observations on the same boat. Comparisons of detection probabilities of acoustic and visual monitoring between two independent observers were calculated. Acoustic and visual detection probabilities were 15.1% and 15.7%, respectively, employing a 300 s matching time interval. When conspecific chirp calls were broadcast from an underwater speaker deployed on the side of the observation boat, the detection probability of acoustic monitoring rose to 19.2%. The visual detection probability was 12.5%. Vocal hot spots characterized by frequent acoustic detection of calls were suggested by dispersion analysis, while dugongs were visually observed constantly throughout the focal area (p&lt;0.001). Passive acoustic monitoring assisted the survey since detection performance similar to that of experienced visual observers was shown. Playback of conspecific chirps appeared to increase the detection probability, which could be beneficial for future field surveys using passive acoustics in order to ensure the attendance of dugongs in the focal area. (C) 2009 Acoustical Society of America. [DOI: 10.1121/1.3203805]

Behavioral experiments indicate that dolphins detect and discriminate prey targets through echolocating broadband sonar signals. The fish echo contains components from multiple reflections, including those from the swim bladder and other organs, and can be used for the identification of fish species and the estimation of fish abundance. In this paper, temporal structures were extracted from fish echoes using the cross-correlation function and the lowpass filter. First, the echo was measured from an anesthetized fish in a water tank. The number, reflector intensity, and echo duration were shown to be dependent on the species, individual, and orientation of the fish. In particular, the echo duration provided useful information on the fish body height and for species identification. Second, the echo was measured from the live fish suspended by nylon monofilament lines in the open sea. It was shown that this duration could be estimated regardless of whether or not the fish were moving.

Cetaceans produce sound signals frequently. Usually, acoustic localization of cetaceans was made by cable hydrophone arrays and multichannel recording systems. In this study, a simple and relatively inexpensive towed acoustic system consisting of two miniature stereo acoustic data-loggers is described for localization and tracking of finless porpoises in a mobile survey. Among 204 porpoises detected acoustically, 34 individuals (similar to 17%) were localized, and 4 of the 34 localized individuals were tracked. The accuracy of the localization is considered to be fairly high, as the upper bounds of relative distance errors were less than 41% within 173 m. With the location information, source levels of finless porpoise clicks were estimated to range from 180 to 209 dB re 1 mu Pa pp at 1 m with an average of 197 dB (N=34), which is over 20 dB higher than that estimated previously from animals in enclosed waters. For the four tracked porpoises, two-dimensional swimming trajectories relative to the moving survey boat, absolute swimming speed, and absolute heading direction are deduced by assuming the animal movements are straight and at constant speed in the segment between two consecutive locations.

The Yangtze finless porpoise (Neophocaena phocaenoides asiaeorientalis) is the only freshwater subspecies of finless porpoise (Neophocaena phocaenoides), living only in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. It has been declared to be endangered under the Red Data List criteria (C2b), by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) in 2004. As well as other odontocetes, Yangtze finless porpoise possesses of sophisticated echolocation systems. Recent researches demonstrated excellent capabilities of high-frequency sound production and reception in this species. The animal produces one sonar click train per 5 s in average with inter-click interval changing typically between 10-70 ms. The click signals hold the characteristics of "typical" high-frequency, narrow-band, and short-time duration phocoenid echolocation sounds. The means of peak frequency of clicks are about 125 kHz, and the means of time duration are shorter than 70 μs. Careful scanning and acoustical auto focusing behavior in porpoises was also observed in free-ranging conditions by using biologging techniques. Hearing capability research by using evoked potential technique indicated that the range of greatest hearing sensitivity of Yangtze finless porpoise covered frequencies from 45 to 139 kHz, and the lowest thresholds of less than 50 dB re: 1 μPa were found at a frequency of 54 kHz. Frequent biosonar production by this subspecies allowed effective passive acoustical survey. These several years, density and distribution of Yangtze finless porpoises are being surveyed acoustically along its habitat. © 2009 by Nova Science Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.

China has various ecologically important sites that provide wonderful research opportunities. The biosonar behavior of Yangtze finless porpoises (Neophocaena phocaenoides asiaeorientalis) in the semi-natural reserve, Hubei, China has been extensively studied for the past five years by the Japan Fisheries Research Agency and Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Careful scanning and acoustical autofocusing behavior in porpoises was firstly observed in free-ranging conditions. The biosonar model obtained in this study allowed us to recently develop a broadband high-resolution sonar system called the Dolphin Sonar Simulator. Frequent biosonar production by finless porpoises also allowed an effective passive acoustical survey to be conducted of the animal along the entire habitat of this species in 2006. Bilateral collaboration with cutting-edge acoustical technologies was proven to be highly productive for basic behavioral science, engineering applications, and the conservation of endangered species. © 2009 The Acoustical Society of Japan.

The detection performance regarding stationary acoustic monitoring of Yangtze finless porpoises Neophocaena phocaenoides asiaeorientalis was compared to visual observations. Three stereo acoustic data loggers (A-tag) were placed at different locations near the confluence of Poyang Lake and the Yangtze River, China. The presence and number of porpoises were determined acoustically and visually during each 1-min time bin. On average, porpoises were acoustically detected 81.7±9.7% of the entire effective observation time, while the presence of animals was confirmed visually 12.7±11.0% of the entire time. Acoustic monitoring indicated areas of high and low porpoise densities that were consistent with visual observations. The direction of porpoise movement was monitored using stereo beams, which agreed with visual observations at all monitoring locations. Acoustic and visual methods could determine group sizes up to five and ten individuals, respectively. While the acoustic monitoring method had the advantage of high detection probability, it tended to underestimate group size due to the limited resolution of sound source bearing angles. The stationary acoustic monitoring method proved to be a practical and useful alternative to visual observations, especially in areas of low porpoise density for long-term monitoring. © 2009 Acoustical Society of America.

It is obvious, at least qualitatively, that small animals move their locomotory apparatus faster than large animals: small insects move their wings invisibly fast, while large birds flap their wings slowly. However, quantitative observations have been difficult to obtain from free-ranging swimming animals. We surveyed the swimming behaviour of animals ranging from 0.5 kg seabirds to 30 000 kg sperm whales using animal-borne accelerometers. Dominant stroke cycle frequencies of swimming specialist seabirds and marine mammals were proportional to mass(-0.29) (R(2)= 0.99, n = 17 groups), while propulsive swimming speeds of 1-2 m s(-1) were independent of body size. This scaling relationship, obtained from breath-hold divers expected to swim optimally to conserve oxygen, does not agree with recent theoretical predictions for optimal swimming. Seabirds that use their wings for both swimming and flying stroked at a lower frequency than other swimming specialists of the same size, suggesting a morphological trade-off with wing size and stroke frequency representing a compromise. In contrast, foot-propelled diving birds such as shags had similar stroke frequencies as other swimming specialists. These results suggest that muscle characteristics may constrain swimming during cruising travel, with convergence among diving specialists in the proportions and contraction rates of propulsive muscles.

Stationary underwater cameras were deployed to evaluate spatial and temporal distribution of fish assemblage inhabiting a high-rise artificial reef. The camera named FISCHOM has a stereo camera or a monaural camera on board and it can operate periodically by an arbitrary interval. We can acquire the information about fish fauna and fish size distribution and their time series of reef fish assemblages by the assessment using the FISCHOMs. Two surveys were conducted in the early summer and fall of 2005 at a high-rise artificial fish reef in the Sea of Japan. In both surveys, five FISCHOMs were fixed dispersedly on the reef and operated in an hour interval As a result, we could evaluate the spatial and temporal distribution of the fish assemblage and their seasonal variations around the reef about 20 days. In total, 48 thousands of fish were counted in both surveys. Pearl-spot chromis Chromis notata notata, jack mackerel Trachwusjaponkus, and rockfish Sebastes spp. were mainly observed. We confirmed these major species had stable diurnal cycles; they were observed in daytime and rarely observed in midnight The differences of the spatial distributions of the major species were found by comparing the results of each FISCHOMs. The folk lengths of the major species were estimated by stereo measurements. © 2007 IEEE.

Echolocation behaviour of a harbor porpoise and six finless porpoises was recorded in open-water systems using acoustic data loggers (A-tag). In total 1359 click trains were recorded during 4.6 h for the harbor porpoise and 46,240 click trains were recorded during 82.3 h for the finless porpoises. The harbor and finless porpoises produced sonar click trains every 12.3 and 6.4 s on average, respectively. During the inter-click-train interval, the porpoises were silent or produced clicks below 148 dB re. 1 mPa, the detection threshold of the tag. Ninety percent of the inter-click-train intervals were 20 s or less in both species. This means that porpoises frequently produce intense click trains. Click-train intervals lasting over 50 s constituted 1% of the total intervals in finless porpoises and 4% in the harbor porpoise. Both species swam without intense clicks for less than 10m in most cases, but occasionally remained silent or used undetected low-intensity clicks for more than 1 min. During these periods, the porpoises would be susceptible to entanglement in fishing nets.

This paper describes a method and results of measurements of the target strength (TS) spectra of metal spheres and live fish using sonar signals of dolphins with a broadband system. First, we measured the broadband form function of a tungsten carbide and a copper sphere in a water tank and confirmed good agreements with the theoretical values. Second, we measured the TS spectra of three species of anaesthetized fish in a water tank. Although the spectra showed nearly similar tendencies of past measurements, they varied considerably among the species, the individuals, and the tilt angles. Third, we measured the TS spectra of tethered live fish suspended from a ship at the sea. In this case we removed the directivity of transducers by the tungsten carbide sphere suspended near the fish. The sonar signals of dolphin are effective to measure TS spectra of fish.

Dolphins can recognize prey by using the broadband sonar signals. The echo from the fish contains components resulting from multiple reflections, for example, the swimbladder and body surface of the fish. It is necessary for identification of fish species to estimate the positions and amplitudes of these reflections. In this paper, we analyzed the echo from the fish by using the sonar signal of the bottlenose dolphin. Firstly, we analyzed echoes which were measured from the anaesthetized fish in a water tank. It was verified that the numbers and delays of reflections are varied with both the species and the tilt angle. Secondary, we analyzed the echo which was measured from the live fish suspended by nylon monofilament line in the open sea. It was verified that the delays and amplitudes of reflections are varied with the orientation and movement of the fish.

Source levels of echolocating free-ranging Yangtze finless porpoise (Neophocaena phocaenoides asiaeorientalis) were calculated using a range estimated by measuring the time delays of the signals via the surface and bottom reflection paths to the hydrophone, relative to the direct signal. Peak-to-peak source levels for finless porpoise were from 163.7 to 185.6 dB re:1 mu Pa. The source levels are highly range dependent and varied approximately as a function of the one-way transmission loss for signals traveling from the animals to the hydrophone. (c) 2006 Acoustical Society of America.

Source levels and phonation intervals of whistles produced by a free-ranging baiji (Chinese river dolphin) were measured in the seminatural reserve of Shishou in Hubei, China. A total of 43 whistles were recorded over 12 recording sessions. The mean dominant frequency (the frequency at the highest energy) was 5.7 kHz (s.d.=0.67). The calculated source level was 143.2 dB rms re 1 mu Pa (s.d.=5.8). Most phonation intervals were shorter than 460 s, and the average interval was 205 s (s.d. = 254). Theoretical detection range of baiji's whistle was 6600 m at the present study site, but it could reduce a couple of hundred meters in practical noisy situation in the Yangtze River. Sporadic phonation (205 s interval on average) with relatively faint signal of baiji was considered, to be difficult to be detected by a towing hydrophone system. Stationed monitoring or slow speed towing of hydrophones along the river current is recommended. (c) 2006 Acoustical Society of America.

Little is known about feeding behavior of wild dugongs (Dugong dugon) because direct measurements of feeding events in the water were. scarcely feasible. In this study, the authors achieved the first successful feeding sound monitoring in a seagrass area using a full-band underwater recording system (called automatic underwater sound monitoring system for dugong: AUSOMS-D). In total, 175 feeding sounds were identified in N5 h of recording. Feeding sounds were only detected at night, implying diurnal differences in the feeding behavior of the studied dugong population. Differences in periodicity of feeding sounds suggested that two or more individuals were in the acoustically observable area. Furthermore, a feeding position monitored by two AUSOMS-Ds was used to calculate source levels of dugong feeding sounds. Assuming spherical propagation, source levels were measured between 70.6 and 79.0 dB rms re 1 mu Pa/ root Hz. (c) 2006 Acoustical Society of America.

To quantitatively examine the diurnal, or tidal, effects on dugong behavior, we employed passive acoustic observation techniques to monitor the animals. Automatic underwater sound monitoring systems for dugongs (AUSOMS-D) were deployed on the sea floor at depths of about 5 in south of Talibong Island, Thailand. The AUSOMS-D recorded underwater sound in stereo at a sampling frequency of 44.1 kHz for more than 116 consecutive hours. Dugong calls were automatically detected by newly developed software with a detection rate of 36.1% and a false alarm rate of 2.9%. In total, 3453 calls were detected during the 164 h of recording. The autocorrelation of the call rate indicated an attendance cycle of about 24 or 25 h, and the most frequent vocalizations were observed from 0300 to 0500 h. The calculated bearings of the sound sources, i.e., dugongs, were used as an indicator to track the relative numbers of dugongs during the monitoring periods. (c) 2006 Acoustical Society of America.

Irrawaddy dolphins (Orcaella brevirostris) being on top of the food chain are considered as a flagship species of Chilika. These cetaceans produce characteristic echolocation pulses that make them acoustically visible, night or day. Acoustic-based survey methods are found to be indispensable for surveying porpoises and dolphins in coastal precincts. This paper reports the first such collaborative attempt in Chilika by applying acoustic survey technology based on the design of an innovative compact and portable acoustic survey device designed for observation of groups of small cetaceans. The acoustic sensor system is housed in a ©bird-cage© structure containing 3 hydrophones forming a main linear array, together with two more hydrophones forming a small 3-element triangle array with the central hydrophone, in a plane perpendicular to the linear array axis. It weighs 25kg and is 3.6m long, 30cm in diameter, and can be deployed either vertically or horizontally with buoys and a weight. A high-speed multichannel data acquisition system records the dolphin click sounds from all hydrophones. Signal processing algorithms have been developed for automatic detection and discrimination of echolocation clicks from other underwater sounds, localization of sound sources, and tracking individual animals. The device has previously been tested in vertical mode in a quasi-natural environment with a group of bottlenose dolphins that has confirmed its capability to precisely track several vocalizing animals. The depth of the Chilika lagoon in the dolphin habitat can be as shallow as 1.5m. Thus, the array has to be deployed in horizontal mode, which enables it to provide very good lateral resolution in the broadside direction. This paper reports the first results of using this array in shallow water conditions. Movements of several Irrawaddy dolphins have been observed very clearly. ©2006 IEEE.

Dugongs (Dugong dugon) produce different types of vocalization such as chirp, trill, and barks. Previous reports showed that dugongs have two kinds of phonemes: long duration calls (trill) and short duration calls (chirp-squeaks hereinafter called chirp). Especially, the chirp and trill calls were widely reported in different populations. However, characteristics of call patterns in dugongs have never been reported. Moreover, the function of these calls was not revealed. The objective of this study is to classify the vocalization patterns of dugong calls and discuss the stability call sequences within and across local populations of dugongs. We recorded the underwater sound at the off Talibong Island, Trang, Thailand in 2004 and 2005 for 120 hours by an automatic underwater sound recording system (AUSOMS-D, System Intech, Tokyo). The AUSOMS-D is the water resistant stand-alone recording system and developed for passive acoustical monitoring targeting human audible range. The AUSOMS-D consisted of a pair of hydrophones located 2 m apart for calculating the bearings of the sound sources. The electric circuits and batteries were housed in a pressure-resistant case, and the hydrophones were connected to a stereo preamplifier. The sound signals were fed into a 1-kHz high pass filter to eliminate low frequency background noise. Digitized signals were recorded on an 80 GB removable hard disk drive by uncompressed format with a time stamp. The power supply system with batteries and DC/DC converter were also housed inside the case. The sampling frequency of the A/D converter was 44.1 kHz and the dynamic range was 74-120 dB (re 1 μPa) with a 16-bit resolution. Each hydrophone had flat frequency responses within 2 dB between 1 and 10 kHz. For the comparison purpose, we made recording of a captive dugong in Toba Aquarium, Japan, which was introduced from Philippine water. We analyzed the underwater sound data set that was obtained in both animals in different environment and populations. Short duration calls with less than 300 milliseconds were defined as chirp and trill was defined as a call lasting over 300 milliseconds. The end of a call sequence was defined at the silence over 3 seconds. Total of 1174 audible calls were detected from total of 12 hours data set (from 3:50 to 6:50 01-04 March 2004). Chirp were observed more than trill calls (567 chirps and 67 trills). Chirp-tochirp transitions were most frequency observed (81.68%), whereas trill-to-trill transitions were the least (4.27%). Transitions between the two types of calls were also observed (6.98%, 7.07%). Trill appeared in the middle and the end of a call sequence. The position of the trill did not differ between wild individual in Thailand and a captive individual from off Philippine that are considered to be separated populations. The stability of the sequence of each type of calls in a call sequence is investigated. Unlike song of birds or baleen whales, the call sequence pattern of dugong suggests small difference across the populations. The call sequence analysis as well as the behavioral context observation will provide the key to interpret function of dugong calls. ©2006 IEEE.

Underwater ultrasonic sound of finless porpoises Neophocaena phocaenoides were monitored concurrent with visual observations in the Yangtze River, China. In a total of 774 km cruise, 588 finless porpoises were sighted by visual observation and 44,864 ultrasonic pulses were recorded. The acoustic monitoring system could detect presence of the finless porpoises 82% of the time. False alarm in the system occurred with a frequency of 0.9%. The high frequency acoustical observation is suggested as an effective method for field surveys of small cetaceans, which produce high frequency sonar signals.

The signals of dolphins and porpoises often exhibit a multi-pulse structure. Here, echolocation signal recordings were' made from four geometrically distinct positions of seven Yangtze finless porpoises temporarily housed in a relatively small, enclosed area. Some clicks demonstrated double-pulse, and others multi-pulse, structure. The interpulse intervals between the first and second pulse of the double- and multi-pulse clicks were significantly different among data from the four different positions (p&lt
0.01, one-way ANOVA). These results indicate that the interpulse interval and structure of the double- and multi-pulse echolocation signals depend on the hydrophone geometry of the animal, and that the double- and multi-pulse structure of echolocation signals in Yangtze finless porpoise is not caused by the phonating porpoise itself, but by the multipath propagation of the signal. Time delays in the 180° phase-shifted surface reflection pulse and the nonphase-shifted bottom reflection pulse of the multi-pulse structures, relative to the direct signal, can be used to calculate the distance to a phonating animal. © 2005 Acoustical Society of America.

The auditory brainstem response (ABR) of fishes is commonly measured by bringing the heads of the fishes out of the water in a small tank. However, this method is inapplicable to experiments for large fishes that are economically important in large spaces such as the sea or in a large tank. This paper describes a method of recording, the ABR for fishes in water, without exposing the fish heads to air, by using a waterproof, insulated electrode. To evaluate the effectiveness of this method, the goldfish Carassius auratus was investigated, and the ABR waveform and auditory thresholds measured in water were compared with those measured on the surface. Both ABR waveforms and auditory thresholds showed similar trends between the two methods. The underwater ABR method is useful to measure the auditory thresholds of larger fish in natural or on-site environments such as the sea, net enclosures and large aquaria in which precise positioning of the fish is not possible. However, more improvement is needed to apply this method to large fishes.

The present study aimed at determining the detection capabilities of an acoustic observation system to recognize porpoises under local riverine conditions and compare the results with sighting observations. Arrays of three to five acoustic data loggers were stationed across the main channel of the Tian-e-zhou Oxbow of China's Yangtze River at intervals of 100-150 m to record sonar signals of free-ranging finless porpoises (Neophocaena phocaenoides). Acoustic observations, concurrent with visual observations, were conducted at two occasions on 20-22 October 2003 and 17-19 October 2004. During a total of 42 h of observation, 316 finless porpoises were sighted and 7041 sonar signals were recorded by loggers. The acoustic data loggers recorded ultrasonic signals of porpoises clearly, and detected the presence of porpoises with a correct detection level of 77.6% and a false alarm level of 5.8% within an effective distance of 150 m. Results indicated that the stationed passive acoustic observation method was effective in detecting the presence of porpoises and showed potential in estimating the group size. A positive linear correlation between the number of recorded signals and the group size of sighted porpoises was indicated, although it is faced with some uncertainty and requires further investigation. © 2005 Acoustical Society of America.

Communication among animals should use signals that are most efficient in their particular habitat. Here, we report data from 3 populations of Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus) in Japan that produce whistles transmitted efficiently through environmental ambient noise. We compared the characteristics of the ambient noise in the dolphins' habitats and the whistles produced. In habitats with less ambient noise, dolphins produced whistles at varying frequencies with greater modulations; when ambient noise was greater, dolphins produced whistles of lower frequencies with fewer frequency modulations. Examination of our results suggests that communication signals are adaptive and are selected to avoid the masking of signals and the attenuation of higher-frequency signals. Thus, ambient noise may drive the variation in whistles of Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin populations. © 2005 American Society of Mammalogists.

Whistles of Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins from three populations in Japan were collected and analyzed quantitatively. Geographic variations in the whistles among populations were found. Significant differences in the whistles among years within each population were also found, but those differences could not explain whole differences among populations because some parameters of the whistles had more differences among populations than among years within each population. As changes with time in the whistles within each population might cause the geographic variations among populations, researchers should take the yearly change within populations into consideration when they study the geographic variation in the whistle of dolphins.

This paper describes the high-frequency echolocation signals from free-ranging Yangtze finless porpoise in the Tian-e-zhou Baiji National Natural Reserve in Hubei Province, China. Signal analysis showed that the Yangtze finless porpoise clicks are typical high-frequency narrow-band (relative width of the frequency spectrum Q = 6.6 ± 1.56, N = 548) ultrasonic pulses. The peak frequencies of the typical clicks range from 87 to 145 kHz with an average of 125 ± 6.92 kHz. The durations range from 30 to 122 μs with an average of 68 ± 14.12 μs. The characteristics of the signals are similar to those of other members of the Phocoenidae as well as the distantly related delphinids, Cephalorhynchus spp. Comparison of these signals to those of the baiji (Lipotes vexillifer), who occupies habitat similar to that of the Yangtze finless porpoise, showed that the peak frequencies of clicks produced by the Yangtze finless porpoise are remarkably higher than those produced by the baiji. Difference in peak frequency between the two species is probably linked to the different size of preferred prey fish. Clear double-pulse and multi-pulse reverberation structures of clicks are noticed, and there is no indication of any low-frequency (&lt
70 kHz) components during the recording period. © 2005 Acoustical Society of America.

The off-axis sonar beam patterns of eight free-ranging finless porpoises were measured using attached data logger systems. The transmitted sound pressure level at each beam angle was calculated from the animal's body angle, the water surface echo level, and the swimming depth. The beam pattern of the off-axis signals between 45 and 115 (where 0 corresponds to the on-axis direction) was nearly constant. The sound pressure level of the off-axis signals reached 162 dB re 1 mPa peak-to-peak. The surface echo level received at the animal was over 140 dB, much higher than the auditory threshold level of small odontocetes. Finless porpoises are estimated to be able to receive the surface echoes of off-axis signals even at 50-m depth. Shallow water systems (less than 50-m depth) are the dominant habitat of both oceanic and freshwater populations of this species. Surface echoes may provide porpoises not only with diving depth information but also with information about surface direction and location of obstacles (including prey items) outside the on-axis sector of the sonar beam. 2005 Acoustical Society of America.

Detecting objects in their paths is a fundamental perceptional function of moving organisms. Potential risks and rewards, such as prey, predators, conspecifics or non-biological obstacles, must be detected so that an animal can modify its behaviour accordingly. However, to date few studies have considered how animals in the wild focus their attention. Dolphins and porpoises are known to actively use sonar or echolocation. A newly developed miniature data logger attached to a porpoise allows for individual recording of acoustical search efforts and inspection distance based on echolocation. In this study, we analysed the biosonar behaviour of eight free-ranging unless porpoises (Neophocaena phocaenoides) and demonstrated that these animals inspect the area ahead of them before swimming silently into it. The porpoises inspected distances up to 77 m, whereas their swimming distance without using sonar was less than 20 m. The inspection distance was long enough to ensure a wide safety margin before facing real risks or rewards. Once a potential prey item was detected, porpoises adjusted their inspection distance from the remote target throughout their approach. © 2005 The Royal Society.

In this study, the auditory thresholds for juvenile Japanese sand lance Ammodytes personatus were measured based on its auditory brainstem response (ABR). The amplitude of the ABR waveforms to a sound stimulus were larger than that of the electric background noise caused by general brainwaves and myogenic signals after the averaging procedure. Japanese sand lance responded to low frequency sounds between 128 Hz and 512 Hz with a sound pressure level of 115-125 dB. As the test frequency decreased, so did the auditory threshold level, and the level was about 116 dB at 128 Hz and 181 Hz. These results indicate that Japanese sand lance can detect low frequency sound but are less sensitive than other fish species. These high thresholds are probably caused by the lack of a swim bladder.

To observe the bio-sonar behavior of dolphins and porpoises, a miniature stereo acoustic data logger was developed to record the echolocation clicks of small cetaceans. The 'A-tag' device is small enough to be attached to a dolphin or porpoise. A-tag can record the sonar pulse intensity, precise inter-click-intervals, and time difference between sounds ; arriving at two different hydrophones. The A-tag works for up to 60 hours continuously and allows observation of the sonar target range of free-ranging odontocetes. The time of arrival at the two hydrophones on the tag allows vocalizations from nearby individuals to be identified. A less invasive tagging technique using a suction cup was also developed. A mean attachment time of 15 hours was obtained on free-ranging finless porpoises in a freshwater system in China. The A-tag proved to be a useful tool for investigating the underwater echolocation behavior of odontocetes.

For quantitative assessments of the effect of artificial reefs to accumulate fish school. we developed a low cost fish school monitoring system (FISCHOM). which enables visual and acoustical observation of fish resources for more than several days. In this paper, we report the profile of prototype FISCHOM and the outcome of trial survey. FISHCOM is consisted of two sensors (a stereo camera with two strobe lights and an echo sounder), a programmable timer, a battery, and a pressure resistant housing with a visually and acoustically transparent window for the sensors. All components except for the housing were selected from inexpensive articles on the market. A digital camera captured two visual images apart 50 cm away each other, which was combined together by a stereo photogrammetric mirror. The stereo images enable us to measure the three-dimensional information of fish school (e.g. fish length tilt angle, distribution). Two sensors acquire a set of data every optional interval (from several seconds to hours) controlled by the programmable timer. A trial survey was carried out at a high-rise artificial reef located off Atsumi, Yamagata prefecture on May 2003. FISCHOM succeeded a 5 days monitoring with an hour interval of data acquisition. We obtained a time series data of individual number of fish, fish length and distance from FISHCOM by the stereo camera, and fish school distribution by the echo sounder. We have demonstrated that the FISCHOM is appropriate to obtain quantitative and continuous data of fish school than other observation methods, which commonly used for the artificial reef assessment, such as observation by SCUBA diver, angling sampling and fish echo sounder operated on a boat.

Cetacean's sonar is an appropriate model of underwater acoustical sensing technology. Sonar behavior of three free-ranging finless porpoises in an oxbow of the Yangtze River was observed by micro data logger systems attached on the animals. Newly developed acoustic data logger could record porpoise's sonar pulse events 1000 times every second with the amplitude information. Close correlation between sonar effort and behavioral context could be observed. Frequent use of sonar with various inter-pulse intervals was recorded during quick body movements characterized by spiky change of heaving acceleration. The inter-pulse intervals were precisely controlled to adjust the distance to a remote target, which was similar to the terminal phase in bat's sonar behavior. © 2004 IEEE.

The auditory characteristics of pelagic fish have received less attention compared to those of benthic or freshwater fish species, even though underwater sounds are considered to affect their behavior. Audiograms of five spotlined sardines were obtained using the auditory brainstem response technique in which the evoked potential on the skin covering the head of the fish was measured. The auditory brainstem response is a non-invasive electrophysiological method that enables the auditory threshold level of fragile species, such as spotlined sardines, to be measured. The gas bladder of the spotlined sardine has been considered as possibly contributing to an enhancement in their hearing. In the test, the sound absorption profile of sardines was also measured. The frequency at the lowest auditory threshold level (i.e. the most sensitive frequency) and absorption were found at 1024 Hz and 1040 Hz, respectively. The spotlined sardine was found to be sensitive to sounds at relatively higher frequency ranges compared to other seawater fishes and the gas bladder is seen to play a significant role in detecting sound.

Chinese River Dolphin (Lipotes vexillifer), usually called 'baiji', is one of the most endangered mammals in the world. The preservation of these mammals directly ensures the health of the ecosystem. However, not much behavioral information on baiji is available so far, that could effectively assist in undertaking their preservation. This research is an attempt to reveal baiji's hitherto unknown underwater dynamic behavior. For this work we have analyzed and extracted motion parameters from clicks of a free-swimming baiji recorded in 1996 at a single hydrophone. The absence of detailed bottom information made it difficult to localize baiji using the multiple reflections and forced us to rely completely on surface reflections only. From measurements of time delay between the direct path and the surface echo, not only large-scale behavior but also fine-scale behavior has been revealed, such as: periods of diving and surfacing, circling behavior underwater and a characteristic nodding motion. These studies have contributed towards a broad understanding of baiji's foraging exercises from the standpoint of formulating an acoustical survey for the search for this endangered marine mammal.

Dive-depth and swim-speed of a juvenile and an adult free-ranging, Yangtze finless porpoises (Neophocaena phocaenoides) were observed using velocity-time-depth recorders in an oxbow of the Yangtze River. In total, 8222 individual dives were recorded over 59 hours. Two dive types, deep-dive (≥2.7 m) and shallow-dive, were recognized. Horizontal travel distances of two finless porpoises in a day were 94.4 km and 90.3 km, which were longer than those of oceanic relative species (harbor porpoises, Phocoena phocoena). Although the shallow water limited the maximum dive-depth, dive-duration, and bottom-time of finless porpoises were similar to the harbor porpoises. A sudden drop of swim-speed below 0.25 m s-1 was frequently observed nearby the maximum dive-depth. This seemed to indicate "turning around" behaviour, possibly during prey pursuit. © 2002 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd on behalf of International Council for the Exploration of the Sea.

The finless porpoises (Neophocaena phocaenoides) have narrow band and high frequency sonar signals, which are distinctive from background noises. Underwater sound monitoring with hydrophones placed along the sides of a research vessel, concurrent with visual observations was conducted in the Yangtze River from Wuhan to Poyang Lake in China. In a total of 774 km cruise, 588 finless porpoises were sighted by visual observation and 44,864 ultrasonic pulses were recorded by the acoustical observation system. The acoustic monitoring system could detect presence of the finless porpoises 88% of the time, 300 m away from the hydrophone. False alarm in the system occurred with a frequency of 0.9%. Such a high detection performance of the present system was due to a large sound pressure level of sonar signals and frequent sound production. Over 160 dB off-axis sound pressure level and sonar signal production at every 3 to 4 s were observed by an acoustic and a behavioral data logger. The high frequency acoustical observation is suggested as an effective method for field surveys of small cetaceans, which produce sonar signals.

Dolphins have highly developed sonar abilities and have been studied extensively in captivity. The use of sonar by dolphins and porpoises in the wild is thought to be related to the underwater navigation and searching behavior. Here we report a new and simple method to archive continuous click events individually. Echolocation click events and swimming speed of finless porpoises (Neophocaena phocaenoides) were recorded with data loggers attached on the animals. The echolocation range converted from sonar pulse intervals in open waters ranged up to 130 m. Echolocation of free-ranging dolphins appears to adapt to various distance in navigation or ranging. Silent swim distance, calculated by the swim speed multiplied by the duration of the non-echolocating periods, was smaller than the echolocation range. Finless porpoises are believed to examine their frontal area acoustically using echolocation. In other words, the observed finless porpoises swam without echolocation only in an already inspected area.

Dolphins have bio-sonar ability called echoiocation. Clicks, echolocation signals, provide various biological information, such as, species, target range and acoustical survey effort of dolphins. Acoustical measurement is anewly developed method to observe underwater behavior of vocalizing animals.

Dall's porpoises emit short high frequency pulses ranging from 135-149kHz, with a pulse width of 50-60μs and a source level of 165-175dB re 1μPa. When chased toward a gillnet in open sea, they have been observed to change their swimming direction to avoid it by either swimming along it or diving underneath it. Estimated target strengths of a float, leadline, lead and netting were -25, -33, -39, and -55dB, respectively. Approximate estimates of Dall's porpoise's detection ranges for the leadline and netting were 30 and 8m, respectively. Sound generators (SG-1 to 4) in the frequency range 20-150kHz were developed on the basis of the frequency components of clicks and observed responses to sounds. Air-tube threads to increase the net target strength were also used. Catch decrease rates (DRs) of the sound generators (with the exception of SG-4) were 3-16% and the DR in the case of the gillnet with three air-tube threads in the centre portion was 8-20%. As for SG-4, entanglement was concentrated in the portion of the net where SG-4 was not attached and the sound wave was weak. -from Authors

Recently, the dolphin's and porpoise's entanglement in gill net becomes an issue. The situation requires that the effective counter-measure should be done.<br> We reserched the dolphin's entanglement condition and their ability of recognizing the gill net.<br> We used bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatus. The net enclosure in Taiji port in Wakayama prefecture was the experiment field. We observed the dolphin's behavior related to barriers such as a gill net, float, rope, and netting only (without float line and ground line). The dolphin got entangled only in the condition that it swan at night and the barrier is netting only. At daytime, bottlenose dolphin might mainly use the sense of sight. At night it might use echolocation.<br> We concluded that at daytime dolphin can recognize the net only, at night it can recognize the existence of the net, but can scarcely recognize the detail of the net's figure by echoloca-tion. On the other hand, at night the dolphin can recognize sufficiently the float by echo-location.