title: Applying distance sampling to fin whale calls recorded by single seismic instruments in the northeast Atlantic.
abstract: Automated methods were developed to detect fin whale calls recorded by an array of ocean bottom seismometers (OBSs) deployed off the Portuguese coast between 2007 and 2008. Using recordings collected on a single day in January 2008, a standard seismological method for estimating earthquake location from single instruments, the three-component analysis, was used to estimate the relative azimuth, incidence angle, and horizontal range between each OBS and detected calls. A validation study using airgun shots, performed prior to the call analysis, indicated that the accuracy of the three-component analysis was satisfactory for this preliminary study. Point transect sampling using cue counts, a form of distance sampling, was then used to estimate the average probability of detecting a call via the array during the chosen day. This is a key step to estimating density or abundance of animals using passive acoustic data. The average probability of detection was estimated to be 0.313 (standard error: 0.033). However, fin whale density could not be estimated due to a lack of an appropriate estimate of cue (i.e., vocalization) rate. This study demonstrates the potential for using a sparse array of widely spaced, independently operating acoustic sensors, such as OBSs, for estimating cetacean density.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Research into Ecological and Environmental Modelling, The Observatory, Buchanan Gardens, University of St. Andrews, St. Andrews, Fife, KY16 9LZ, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Danielle
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Harris
authors.forename: Luis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Matias
authors.forename: Len
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Harwood
authors.forename: Wolfram H
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Geissler
mesh_terms: D000162:Acoustics / Q000295:instrumentation*; D000818:Animals; D001267:Atlantic Ocean; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D004867:Equipment Design; D050617:Fin Whale / Q000145:classification* / Q000502:physiology*; D005389:Firearms; D009791:Oceanography / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D010363:Pattern Recognition, Automated; D011156:Population Density; D011312:Pressure; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted; D013018:Sound Spectrography; D013045:Species Specificity; D013550:Swimming; D013997:Time Factors; D014160:Transducers, Pressure; D014828:Vocalization, Animal / Q000145:classification*