Measurements of humpback whale song sound levels received by a calf in association with a singer.

ABSTRACT

Male humpback whales produce loud "songs" on the wintering grounds and some sing while escorting mother-calf pairs, exposing them to near-continuous sounds at close proximity. An Acousonde acoustic and movement recording tag deployed on a calf off Maui, Hawaii captured sounds produced by a singing male escort. Root-mean-square received levels ranged from 126 to 158 dB re 1 µPa. These levels represent rare direct measurements of sound to which a newly born humpback calf may be naturally exposed by a conspecific, and may provide a basis for informed decisions regarding anthropogenic sound levels projected near calves.