title: Echolocation in Blainville's beaked whales (Mesoplodon densirostris).
abstract: Here we use sound and movement recording tags to study how deep-diving Blainville's beaked whales (Mesoplodon densirostris) use echolocation to forage in their natural mesopelagic habitat. These whales ensonify thousands of organisms per dive but select only about 25 prey for capture. They negotiate their cluttered environment by radiating sound in a narrow 20° field of view which they sample with 1.5-3 clicks per metre travelled requiring only some 60 clicks to locate, select and approach each prey. Sampling rates do not appear to be defined by the range to individual targets, but rather by the movement of the predator. Whales sample faster when they encounter patches of prey allowing them to search new water volumes while turning rapidly to stay within a patch. This implies that the Griffin search-approach-capture model of biosonar foraging must be expanded to account for sampling behaviours adapted to the overall prey distribution. Beaked whales can classify prey at more than 15 m range adopting stereotyped motor patterns when approaching some prey. This long detection range relative to swimming speed facilitates a deliberate mode of sensory-motor operation in which prey and capture tactics can be selected to optimize energy returns during long breath-hold dives.
authors: Department of Bioscience-Zoophysiology, Aarhus University, Build. 1131, Århus, Denmark. peter.madsen@biology.au.dk
authors: P T
authors: PT
authors: Madsen
authors: N Aguilar
authors: NA
authors: de Soto
authors: P
authors: P
authors: Arranz
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Johnson
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000162:Acoustics; D000818:Animals; D001307:Auditory Perception; D004242:Diving; D004455:Echolocation; D017753:Ecosystem; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D009043:Motor Activity; D009792:Oceans and Seas; D017603:Signal Detection, Psychological; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted; D013018:Sound Spectrography; D013239:Stereotyped Behavior; D013550:Swimming; D013997:Time Factors; D014828:Vocalization, Animal; D014907:Whales / Q000502:physiology* / Q000523:psychology
references: J Acoust Soc Am. 1987 Nov;82(5):1487-91
references: 3693690
references: Proc Biol Sci. 2005 Apr 22;272(1565):797-801
references: 15888412
references: Proc Biol Sci. 2008 Jan 22;275(1631):133-9
references: 17986434
references: J Exp Biol. 2002 Jul;205(Pt 13):1899-906
references: 12077166
references: Proc Biol Sci. 2004 Nov 7;271(1554):2239-47
references: 15539349
references: J Exp Biol. 2012 Dec 15;215(Pt 24):4358-73
references: 23175527
references: J Exp Biol. 2004 May;207(Pt 11):1811-23
references: 15107437
references: J Exp Biol. 2005 Jan;208(Pt 2):181-94
references: 15634839
references: J Exp Biol. 2006 Nov;209(Pt 21):4238-53
references: 17050839
references: Naturwissenschaften. 2012 Sep;99(9):767-71
references: 22821203
references: J Acoust Soc Am. 2012 Jan;131(1):582-92
references: 22280620
references: J Acoust Soc Am. 2009 Jul;126(1):460-7
references: 19603903
references: Biofizika. 1972 Jan-Feb;17(1):139-45
references: 5060624
references: J Acoust Soc Am. 2011 Feb;129(2):1073-80
references: 21361463
references: Nature. 2003 Jun 19;423(6942):861-3
references: 12815429
references: J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol. 2003 Nov;189(11):843-55
references: 14564468
references: J Acoust Soc Am. 2001 Oct;110(4):2207-26
references: 11681397
references: J Anim Ecol. 2008 Sep;77(5):936-47
references: 18444999
references: Physiology (Bethesda). 2013 Sep;28(5):276-83
references: 23997187
references: J Acoust Soc Am. 2000 Jan;107(1):638-48
references: 10641672
references: PLoS Biol. 2007 Nov;5(11):e301
references: 18001151
references: Nature. 2004 Aug 12;430(7001):776-8
references: 15306808
references: J Acoust Soc Am. 2005 Jun;117(6):3919-27
references: 16018493
references: J Acoust Soc Am. 2008 Nov;124(5):3324-32
references: 19045815
references: J Evol Biol. 2007 Jul;20(4):1439-58
references: 17584238
references: J Acoust Soc Am. 2008 Mar;123(3):1753-62
references: 18345863
references: PLoS One. 2011;6(12):e28353
references: 22163295
references: J Exp Biol. 2009 Oct 1;212(19):3100-7
references: 19749102
references: J Acoust Soc Am. 2013 Mar;133(3):1387-98
references: 23464010
references: J Exp Biol. 2006 Dec;209(Pt 24):5038-50
references: 17142692
references: J Acoust Soc Am. 2004 Oct;116(4 Pt 1):1909-12
references: 15532623
references: J Exp Zool. 1965 Mar;158:155-68
references: 14327185
references: J Acoust Soc Am. 2008 Jul;124(1):40-3
references: 18646952
references: J Acoust Soc Am. 2004 Feb;115(2):901-9
references: 15000201
references: J Acoust Soc Am. 2002 Jul;112(1):308-21
references: 12141357
references: J Exp Biol. 2009 Apr;212(Pt 8):1078-86
references: 19329740
references: Proc Biol Sci. 2004 Dec 7;271 Suppl 6:S383-6
references: 15801582
references: J Acoust Soc Am. 2013 Mar;133(3):1770-84
references: 23464046
references: J Acoust Soc Am. 2007 Jun;121(6):3954-62
references: 17552742
references: J Exp Biol. 2010 Nov 1;213(Pt 21):3717-22
references: 20952621
references: J Exp Biol. 2009 Mar;212(Pt 6):823-34
references: 19251999
references: J Acoust Soc Am. 1983 Sep;74(3):1059-61
references: 6630720
references: J Acoust Soc Am. 2009 Feb;125(2):1214-21
references: 19206894
references: J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol. 2006 Jun;192(6):573-86
references: 16645885