High-pitched tonal signals of beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas) in a summer assemblage off Solovetskii Island in the White Sea

• Published in: Acoustical physics Vol. 52; no. 2; pp. 125 - 131
• Main Authors: Belikov, R. A., Bel’kovich, V. M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01-03-2006
• Subjects: Cetacea; Delphinapterus leucas; Marine; PNE, White Sea
• ISSN: 1063-7710; 1562-6865
• DOI: 10.1134/S1063771006020023

High-frequency whistles of beluga whales are analyzed. The signals are recorded in a belgua summer assemblage off Solovetskii Island in the White Sea. The high-frequency whistles are narrowband signals with a continuous waveform and a fundamental frequency above 5 kHz. On the average, they make up 7.7% of the total vocal production of the animals. Based on the shape of the fundamental frequency contour and its time-frequency parameters, the high-frequency whistles are classed into 12 types. The HF whistles have a mean fundamental frequency of 9.7 kHz, an average bandwidth of 3.3 kHz, and an average duration of 1.0 s. The number of inflection points per signal ranges from 0 to 56 with a mean of 2.3. The predominant types are flat (50%), rising (23%), and wavy (7%) high-frequency whistles. Presumably, beluga whales can use some of the whistle types for short- range communication and other types for long-range communication.