First look at humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) song structure from western South Africa. Issue 3 (2nd July 2020)
- Record Type:
- Journal Article
- Title:
- First look at humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) song structure from western South Africa. Issue 3 (2nd July 2020)
- Main Title:
- First look at humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) song structure from western South Africa
- Authors:
- Hawkey, James Seymour
Elwen, Simon Harvey
James, Bridget Susan
Prinsloo, Alexa Simone
Gridley, Tess - Abstract:
- Abstract : Humpback whales are known for their complex and well-structured song that is typically produced on low-latitude breeding grounds. However, there is increasing evidence of song production on migration routes and high-latitude feeding grounds. Within a breeding ground and season, males share songs that progressively change over time. Song production on migration routes leads to the cultural transmission and sharing of songs. This is the first assessment of song structure in humpback whales recorded near Cape Town, South Africa. Song was identified in recordings made between 9 September 2016 and 21 October 2016 on a moored hydrophone located in Fish Hoek, False Bay. Thirty-nine song sessions were recorded, consisting of nine distinct units, forming ten themes. Themes occasionally overlapped in time, indicating multiple simultaneous singers. They were repeated on multiple days with consistent patterns in theme transition, demonstrating song sharing amongst individuals. Convergence on a similar song structure suggests singing whales originate from the same breeding stock. We propose that an unknown proportion of these whales continue to sing beyond the recognised breeding season. These data support previous studies that found that singing is not restricted to low-latitude breeding sites.
- Is Part Of:
- African zoology. Volume 55:Issue 3(2020)
- Journal:
- African zoology
- Issue:
- Volume 55:Issue 3(2020)
- Issue Display:
- Volume 55, Issue 3 (2020)
- Year:
- 2020
- Volume:
- 55
- Issue:
- 3
- Issue Sort Value:
- 2020-0055-0003-0000
- Page Start:
- 224
- Page End:
- 232
- Publication Date:
- 2020-07-02
- Subjects:
- breeding -- singing -- suspended migration -- vocalisation
Zoology -- Africa -- Periodicals
Zoology -- South Africa -- Periodicals
Animals -- Africa -- Periodicals
Animals -- South Africa -- Periodicals
Periodicals
590.9605 - Journal URLs:
- http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/tafz20 ↗
http://search.epnet.com/direct.asp?db=aph&bquery=is+15627020&scope=site ↗
http://www.tandfonline.com/ ↗ - DOI:
- 10.1080/15627020.2020.1796524 ↗
- Languages:
- English
- ISSNs:
- 1562-7020
- Deposit Type:
- Legaldeposit
- View Content:
- Available online (eLD content is only available in our Reading Rooms) ↗
- Physical Locations:
- British Library DSC - 0735.123500
British Library DSC - BLDSS-3PM
British Library STI - ELD Digital store - Ingest File:
- 22697.xml