ePrints

Whistle vocalizations of Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins(Tursiops aduncus) inhabiting the south-west Indian Ocean

Lookup NU author(s): Professor Per Berggren

Downloads

Full text for this publication is not currently held within this repository. Alternative links are provided below where available.

Abstract

Populations of Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops aduncus) are distributed along coastalregions of the south-west Indian Ocean (SWIO), from South Africa to Kenya. An account ofwhistles from wild T. aduncus inhabiting the SWIO is provided here. Recordings were made atPlettenberg Bay (South Africa) and Zanzibar Island (Tanzania) and the frequency trace of whistlecontours (n¼1677) was extracted. Multiple parameters were measured from each whistle andcompared between regions and encounters. Regional variation was significant in all parametersassessed except for start and middle frequency (frequency at half the duration). Whistles fromZanzibar Island ended on average 4 kHz higher than those from Plettenberg Bay, and had a steeperfrequency gradient. However, mean frequencies differed by <1 kHz and population averages forthe adopted frequency distribution showed similar patterns, with a peak between 5 and 7 kHz.Whistle parameters were strongly influenced by recording encounter, likely reflecting the presenceof different individuals, group compositions and behavioral contexts during recording occasions.Comparisons within the genus showed that T. aduncus from the SWIO have amongst the loweststart and minimum frequency of whistles within Tursiops.

Publication metadata

Author(s): Gridley T, Berggren P, Cockroft VG, Janik VM

Publication type: Article

Publication status: Published

Journal: Journal of the Acoustical Society of America

Year: 2012

Volume: 132

Issue: 6

Pages: 4032-4040

ISSN (print): 0001-4966

ISSN (electronic): 1520-8524

Publisher: Acoustical Society of America

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1121/1.4763990

DOI: 10.1121/1.4763990

Altmetrics

Share