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Measuring Fin Whale Songs in a Noisy Environment

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The Effects of Noise on Aquatic Life

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Abstract

Acoustics is an essential non-invasive approach to study fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus). Knowledge of this species’ sound repertoire and of its acoustic communication is increasing rapidly with the implementation of a growing number of long-term passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) studies. As for other baleen whales, several works performed in the last decade have proven the importance of song studies in the assessment of population status and conservation. Understanding the structure and use of fin whale songs within and between populations and across different oceans represents the next necessary step to improve PAM capabilities in a highly pressured environment. Many differences still exist in the methodologies and tools applied for this purpose. This chapter presents a brief overview of the main metrics and software used to define fin whale songs and to assess the influence of noise on the detection of fin whale song, and the acoustic communication system of the species is presented.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Istituto di Scienze Polari – Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR-ISP), Messina, Italy

    Virginia Sciacca & Francesco Filiciotto

  2. DISTEM, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Palermo, Italy

    Giuseppe Morello

Authors
  1. Virginia Sciacca
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  2. Giuseppe Morello
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  3. Francesco Filiciotto
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Virginia Sciacca .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, College Park, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA

    Arthur N. Popper

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

    Joseph Sisneros

  3. Marine Research, Loughine, Aberdeen, UK

    Anthony D. Hawkins

  4. DHI A/S, Horsholm, Denmark

    Frank Thomsen

Section Editor information

  1. Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS), University of the Highlands and Islands, Oban, Scotland, UK

    Denise Risch

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Sciacca, V., Morello, G., Filiciotto, F. (2023). Measuring Fin Whale Songs in a Noisy Environment. In: Popper, A.N., Sisneros, J., Hawkins, A.D., Thomsen, F. (eds) The Effects of Noise on Aquatic Life. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-10417-6_148-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-10417-6_148-1

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-10417-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-10417-6

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