Whistle source levels of free-ranging beluga whales in Saguenay-St. Lawrence marine park

J Acoust Soc Am. 2016 Jul;140(1):EL89. doi: 10.1121/1.4955115.

Abstract

Wild beluga whistle source levels (SLs) are estimated from 52 three-dimensional (3D) localized calls using a 4-hydrophone array. The probability distribution functions of the root-mean-square (rms) SL in the time domain, and the peak, the strongest 3-dB, and 10-dB SLs from the spectrogram, were non-Gaussian. The average rms SL was 143.8 ± 6.7 dB re 1 μPa at 1 m. SL spectral metrics were, respectively, 145.8 ± 8 dB, 143.2 ± 7.1 dB, and 138.5 ± 6.9 dB re 1 μPa(2)·Hz(-1) at 1 m.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Beluga Whale*
  • Echolocation*
  • Estuaries
  • Population Surveillance / methods
  • Sound Spectrography*
  • Vocalization, Animal*