| Popis: |
Marine mammals rely heavily on acoustic communication to locate one another in low‐visibility underwater environments. How these animals localize sounds sources is poorly understood. The speed of sound, attenuation, and reverberation in shallow water environments differ from those in terrestrial environments such that intensity cues alone may not be sufficient for ranging. The purpose of this study was to examine sound propagation in shallow, coastal waters near Rincon, Puerto Rico, and to determine what acoustic cues provide consistent information about source distance. Narrow‐band tones and broadband sounds of similar frequency content (100–22 000 Hz) and duration (2.0 s) to sound units of humpback whale song were broadcast from an underwater speaker. Sounds were recorded at known distances ranging from 70–850 m from the sound source. The received intensity was negatively correlated with distance propagated; broadband sounds showed a stronger correlation than narrow‐band sounds. Analysis of the inten... |
