Bowhead whale springtime song off West Greenland

• Published in: The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 2008-11, Vol.124 (5), p.3315-3323
• Main Authors: Stafford, Kathleen M., Moore, Sue E., Laidre, Kristin L., Heide-Jørgensen, M. P.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acoustics; Animal Communication; Animals; Balaena mysticetus; Bowhead Whale - physiology; Exact sciences and technology; Fundamental areas of phenomenology (including applications); Greenland; Humpback Whale - physiology; Marine; Megaptera novaeangliae; Music; Oceans and Seas; Physics; Seasons; Species Specificity; Underwater sound; Vocalization, Animal - physiology
• ISSN: 0001-4966; 1520-8524
• DOI: 10.1121/1.2980443

Three songs were recorded from bowhead whales ( Balaena mysticetus ) in Disko Bay, West Greenland, during 59 h of recordings via sonobuoys deployed on seven days between 5 and 14 April 2007. Song elements were defined by units following the protocol of previous description of bowhead whale song. The two most prominent songs were loud, complex, and repeated in long bouts on multiple recording days while the third song was much simpler and recorded on only one day. Bowhead whale simple calls and faint song elements were also recorded using digital audio tape recorders and a dipping hydrophone deployed from the sea ice approximately 100-150 km southwest of Disko Bay on three separate days suggesting that song is also produced in the central portion of Baffin Bay in winter. Songs recorded in Disko Bay are from an area where approximately 85% of the whales have been determined to be adult females. Although it is not known which sex was singing, we speculate that, as in humpback whales ( Megaptera novaeangliae ), male bowhead whales may sing to mediate sexual competition or mate selection behaviors. This is the first detailed description of springtime songs for bowhead whales in the eastern Arctic.