Passive acoustic monitoring of killer whales in the Gulf of Alaska 2019-2021

Original provider:
Hannah Myers

Dataset credits:
Hannah Myers, University of Alaska Fairbanks

Abstract:
Defining a marine mammal population’s calling rate can enable acoustic density
estimation. We used killer whale dialects, long-term photo-identification, and year-round acoustic data across multiple locations to establish calling rates for three killer whale populations. This dataset includes acoustic detections of the AD8 and AD16 pods of southern Alaska resident (fish-eating) killer whales, as well as detections of the Gulf of Alaska transient (mammal-eating) and AT1 transient (mammal-eating) populations.

These populations and pods were recognized using published call catalogues as well as field recordings during which the animals present were photographically identified.

The number of discrete calls in each four- or five-min recording was counted. For resident killer whales, the number of animals present is the number of animals photographically documented that year in the pod; for transients, it is the mean number of animals documented over long-term vessel survey efforts.

原始提供方：汉娜·迈尔斯（Hannah Myers）
数据集贡献者：汉娜·迈尔斯、阿拉斯加费尔班克斯大学

摘要：
明确海洋哺乳动物种群的鸣唱率，可为声学密度估算提供支撑。本研究结合虎鲸方言特征、长期照片识别（photo-identification）技术，以及多监测站位的全年声学数据，为3个虎鲸种群确立了鸣唱率基准。本数据集包含阿拉斯加南部居留型（食鱼性）虎鲸AD8与AD16鲸群的声学检测结果，以及阿拉斯加湾过客型（食哺乳动物性）与AT1过客型虎鲸种群的检测结果。

上述种群与鲸群的识别依据已公开的鸣唱目录，以及对现场录制音频中出现个体进行拍照识别得到的结果。

研究人员对每段4分钟或5分钟的录音片段中的独立鸣唱次数进行了计数。对于居留型虎鲸，现场个体数量为该年度该鲸群经拍照记录到的个体总数；对于过客型虎鲸，该数值为长期船舶调查所记录的平均个体数量。