Echolocation by the Harbour Porpoise: Life in Coastal Waters

Overview

Journal Front Physiol

Date 2013 Apr 19

PMID 23596420

Citations 3

Authors

Lee A Miller

Magnus Wahlberg

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The harbor porpoise is one of the smallest and most widely spread of all toothed whales. They are found abundantly in coastal waters all around the northern hemisphere. They are among the 11 species known to use high frequency sonar of relative narrow bandwidth. Their narrow biosonar beam helps isolate echoes from prey among those from unwanted items and noise. Obtaining echoes from small objects like net mesh, net floats, and small prey is facilitated by the very high peak frequency around 130 kHz with a wavelength of about 12 mm. We argue that such echolocation signals and narrow band auditory filters give the harbor porpoise a selective advantage in a coastal environment. Predation by killer whales and a minimum noise region in the ocean around 130 kHz may have provided selection pressures for using narrow bandwidth high frequency biosonar signals.

Citing Articles

Seasonal and diel patterns in Black Sea harbour porpoise acoustic activity in 2020-2022.

Ivanchikova J, Tregenza N, Popov D, Meshkova G, Paiu R, Timofte C Ecol Evol. 2024; 14(10):e70182.

PMID: 39391820 PMC: 11464542. DOI: 10.1002/ece3.70182.

Evidence of Hearing Loss and Unrelated Toxoplasmosis in a Free-Ranging Harbour Porpoise ().

Morell M, IJsseldijk L, Berends A, Grone A, Siebert U, Raverty S Animals (Basel). 2021; 11(11).

PMID: 34827790 PMC: 8614470. DOI: 10.3390/ani11113058.

Autonomous Deployment of Underwater Acoustic Monitoring Devices Using an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle: The Flying Hydrophone.

Babatunde D, Pomeroy S, Lepper P, Clark B, Walker R Sensors (Basel). 2020; 20(21).

PMID: 33113815 PMC: 7662971. DOI: 10.3390/s20216064.

References

Villadsgaard A, Wahlberg M, Tougaard J . Echolocation signals of wild harbour porpoises, Phocoena phocoena. J Exp Biol. 2006; 210(Pt 1):56-64. DOI: 10.1242/jeb.02618. View

Jakobsen L, Ratcliffe J, Surlykke A . Convergent acoustic field of view in echolocating bats. Nature. 2012; 493(7430):93-6. DOI: 10.1038/nature11664. View

Kastelein R, Hoek L, de Jong C, Wensveen P . The effect of signal duration on the underwater detection thresholds of a harbor porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) for single frequency-modulated tonal signals between 0.25 and 160 kHz. J Acoust Soc Am. 2010; 128(5):3211-22. DOI: 10.1121/1.3493435. View

Kastelein R, Wensveen P, Hoek L, Au W, Terhune J, de Jong C . Critical ratios in harbor porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) for tonal signals between 0.315 and 150 kHz in random Gaussian white noise. J Acoust Soc Am. 2009; 126(3):1588. DOI: 10.1121/1.3177274. View

Linnenschmidt M, Beedholm K, Wahlberg M, Hojer-Kristensen J, Nachtigall P . Keeping returns optimal: gain control exerted through sensitivity adjustments in the harbour porpoise auditory system. Proc Biol Sci. 2012; 279(1736):2237-45. PMC: 3321710. DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2011.2465. View

Szymanski M, Bain D, Kiehl K, Pennington S, Wong S, Henry K . Killer whale (Orcinus orca) hearing: auditory brainstem response and behavioral audiograms. J Acoust Soc Am. 1999; 106(2):1134-41. DOI: 10.1121/1.427121. View

Kyhn L, Jensen F, Beedholm K, Tougaard J, Hansen M, Madsen P . Echolocation in sympatric Peale's dolphins (Lagenorhynchus australis) and Commerson's dolphins (Cephalorhynchus commersonii) producing narrow-band high-frequency clicks. J Exp Biol. 2010; 213(11):1940-9. DOI: 10.1242/jeb.042440. View

Lemonds D, Au W, Vlachos S, Nachtigall P . High-frequency auditory filter shape for the Atlantic bottlenose dolphin. J Acoust Soc Am. 2012; 132(2):1222-8. DOI: 10.1121/1.4731212. View

Linnenschmidt M, Kloepper L, Wahlberg M, Nachtigall P . Stereotypical rapid source level regulation in the harbour porpoise biosonar. Naturwissenschaften. 2012; 99(9):767-71. DOI: 10.1007/s00114-012-0948-7. View

10.

Kastelein R, Bunskoek P, Hagedoorn M, Au W, Haan D . Audiogram of a harbor porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) measured with narrow-band frequency-modulated signals. J Acoust Soc Am. 2002; 112(1):334-44. DOI: 10.1121/1.1480835. View

11.

Verfuss U, Miller L, Pilz P, Schnitzler H . Echolocation by two foraging harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena). J Exp Biol. 2009; 212(Pt 6):823-34. DOI: 10.1242/jeb.022137. View

12.

Mohl B, Andersen S . Echolocation: high-frequency component in the click of the harbour porpoise (Phocoena ph. L.). J Acoust Soc Am. 1973; 54(5):1368-79. DOI: 10.1121/1.1914435. View

13.

Koblitz J, Wahlberg M, Stilz P, Madsen P, Beedholm K, Schnitzler H . Asymmetry and dynamics of a narrow sonar beam in an echolocating harbor porpoise. J Acoust Soc Am. 2012; 131(3):2315-24. DOI: 10.1121/1.3683254. View

14.

Galatius A, Berta A, Frandsen M, Goodall R . Interspecific variation of ontogeny and skull shape among porpoises (Phocoenidae). J Morphol. 2010; 272(2):136-48. DOI: 10.1002/jmor.10900. View

15.

Morisaka T, Connor R . Predation by killer whales (Orcinus orca) and the evolution of whistle loss and narrow-band high frequency clicks in odontocetes. J Evol Biol. 2007; 20(4):1439-58. DOI: 10.1111/j.1420-9101.2007.01336.x. View

16.

Steeman M, Hebsgaard M, Fordyce R, Ho S, Rabosky D, Nielsen R . Radiation of extant cetaceans driven by restructuring of the oceans. Syst Biol. 2010; 58(6):573-85. PMC: 2777972. DOI: 10.1093/sysbio/syp060. View

17.

Miller L . Arctiid moth clicks can degrade the accuracy of range difference discrimination in echolocating big brown bats, Eptesicus fuscus. J Comp Physiol A. 1991; 168(5):571-9. DOI: 10.1007/BF00215079. View

18.

Wisniewska D, Johnson M, Beedholm K, Wahlberg M, Madsen P . Acoustic gaze adjustments during active target selection in echolocating porpoises. J Exp Biol. 2012; 215(Pt 24):4358-73. DOI: 10.1242/jeb.074013. View

19.

Popov V, Supin A, Wang D, Wang K . Nonconstant quality of auditory filters in the porpoises, Phocoena phocoena and Neophocaena phocaenoides (Cetacea, Phocoenidae). J Acoust Soc Am. 2006; 119(5 Pt 1):3173-80. DOI: 10.1121/1.2184290. View

20.

Madsen P, Wisniewska D, Beedholm K . Single source sound production and dynamic beam formation in echolocating harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena). J Exp Biol. 2010; 213(Pt 18):3105-10. DOI: 10.1242/jeb.044420. View