Abstract:
This dataset contains detections of sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) echolocation clicks from three locations in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) during and following the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill (2010-2017). These detections are given by site and time bin, including the number of detections per time bin. Clicks were grouped into five-minute bins. For each bin containing clicks, the number of clicks, recording effort in bin, and description of population structure presence are given in three sex size classes based on the correlation of inter-click-interval (ICI), inter-pulse-interval (IPI) and estimated acoustic total length. Passive acoustic monitoring was conducted with High-frequency Acoustic Recording Packages (HARPs). These data were scanned for sperm whale clicks using a combination of computer algorithms and manual (analyst) scanning of the waveform and spectral data.
Suggested Citation:
Hildebrand, John A.. 2019. Sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) echolocation clicks recorded at three sites in the Gulf of Mexico from 2010-05-16 to 2017-07-18. Distributed by: Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative Information and Data Cooperative (GRIIDC), Harte Research Institute, Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi. doi:10.7266/n7-qbmn-tq98
Data Parameters and Units:
The file deployment_info_sperm.csv includes site and deployment information and contains: Deploy (sites); Tf (ID number); Start time (start date and time, MM/DD/YY MM:SS); End time (End date and time, MM/DD/YY MM:SS); Depth (m); Deployment Latitude North; Deployment Longitude West.
Data are formatted according to XML schema associated with Tethys software. Tethys is a freely-available open-source temporal-spatial database for used for standardized data storage by the passive acoustics community. https://tethys.sdsu.edu/
The XML file represents individual months, and file names are formatted as site_Sperm_YYYYMM. Example: DT_Sperm_201006.xml = Site DT, 201006 (June 2010). It includes the time (GMT) and the number of echolocation clicks detected at that time bin.
Variable definitions:
: Start of recording effort (yyyy-mm-ddTHH:MM:SS.000)
: End of recording effort (yyyy-mm-ddTHH:MM:SS.000)
: ITIS number identifying species.
: Start of bin (yyyy-mm-ddTHH:MM:SS.000)
: Number of clicks in bin
: ITIS number identifying species.
: Recording effort in bin (seconds)
: Presence of sex class in bin as logical (1 - yes | 0 - no). Class formed of smaller whales with a mean ICI and IPI of 0.6 s and 3.6 ms that represents presence of adult females and their offspring.
: Presence of sex class in bin as logical (1 - yes | 0 - no). Class formed of mid-size whales with a mean ICI and IPI of 0.7 s and 4 ms that can represent presence of adult females and sub-adult males.
: Presence of sex class in bin as logical (1 - yes | 0 - no). Class formed of larger whales with a mean ICI and IPI of 0.8 s and 4.6 ms that can represent presence of adult females and sub-adult males.
Methods:
Passive acoustic monitoring was conducted with High-frequency Acoustic Recording Packages. These data were scanned for sperm whale clicks using a combination of computer algorithms and manual (analyst) scanning of the waveform and spectral data. For further detail on analysis, please refer to Solsona et al., 2019, and for information about Tethys, please refer to Roch et al., 2016.
Provenance and Historical References:
Roch, M. A., Batchelor, H., Baumann-Pickering, S., Berchok, C. L., Cholewiak, D., Fujioka, E., Garland, E.C., Herbert, S., Hildebrand, J.A., Oleson, E.M., & Van Parijs, S. (2016). Management of acoustic metadata for bioacoustics. Ecol. Inform. 31, 122–136. doi: 10.1016/j.ecoinf.2015.12.002
Solsona Berga, A. (2019). Advancement of methods for passive acoustic monitoring: a framework for the study of deep-diving cetacean (Doctoral dissertation, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya). Available at: http://hdl.handle.net/2117/129269
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