JOURNAL ARTICLE

Accurate species classification of Arctic toothed whale echolocation clicks using one-third octave ratios.

  • Published In: Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 2024, v. 155, n. 4. P. 2359 1 of 3

  • Database: Academic Search Ultimate 2 of 3

  • Authored By: Zahn, Marie J.; Ladegaard, Michael; Simon, Malene; Stafford, Kathleen M.; Sakai, Taiki; Laidre, Kristin L. 3 of 3

Abstract

This article focuses on advancing methods to acoustically distinguish the only two Arctic toothed whales, belugas (Delphinapterus leucas) and narwhals (Monodon monoceros), using echolocation clicks recorded in Northwest Greenland. Analysis of long-term passive acoustic data revealed that beluga clicks have most energy above 30 kHz, while narwhal clicks show a sharp energy increase near 20 kHz, enabling species differentiation through one-third octave level (TOL) ratios between 16–25 kHz and 25–40 kHz bands. Random Forest classification models using these TOL ratios achieved over 99% accuracy in identifying species across different sites, supporting their use in automated acoustic monitoring. The study highlights the potential for these methods to improve long-term monitoring of Arctic odontocetes amid changing environmental and anthropogenic conditions.

Additional Information

  • Source:Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. 2024/04, Vol. 155, Issue 4, p2359
  • Document Type:Article
  • Subject Area:Zoology
  • Publication Date:2024
  • ISSN:0001-4966
  • DOI:10.1121/10.0025460
  • Accession Number:177184299
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