Descriptions of seasonal occurrence and behaviour of Antarctic blue and fin whales in the Southern Ocean are of pivotal importance for the effective conservation and management of these endangered species. We used an autonomous acoustic recorder to collect bioacoustic data from January through September 2014 to describe the seasonal occurrence, behaviour and detection ranges of Antarctic blue and fin whale calls off the Maud Rise, Antarctica. From 2479 h of recordings, we detected Dand Z-calls plus the 27 Hz chorus of blue whales, the 20 and 99 Hz pulses of fin whales and the 18−28 Hz chorus of blue and fin whales. Blue whale calls were detected throughout the hydrophone deployment period with a peak occurrence in February, indicating continuous presence of whales in a broad Southern Ocean area (given the modelled detection ranges). Fin whale calls were detected from January through July when sea ice was present on the latter dates. No temporal segregation in peaks of diel calling rates of blue and fin whales was observed in autumn, but a clear temporal segregation was apparent in summer. Acoustic propagation models suggest that blue and fin whale calls can be heard as far as 1700 km from the hydrophone position in spring. Random forest models ranked month of the year as the most important predictor of call occurrence and call rates (i.e. behaviour) for these whales. Our work highlights areas around the Maud Rise as important habitats for blue and fin whales in the Southern Ocean.

中文翻译：

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南极洲不同海冰条件下南极蓝鲸和长须鲸的声学季节性、行为和探测范围

描述南极蓝鲸和长须鲸在南大洋的季节性发生和行为对于有效保护和管理这些濒危物种至关重要。我们使用自主声学记录器收集了 2014 年 1 月至 9 月的生物声学数据，以描述南极洲莫德海隆上南极蓝鲸和长须鲸的季节性发生、行为和探测范围。从 2479 小时的录音中，我们检测到 Dand Z-calls 加上蓝鲸的 27 Hz 合唱、长须鲸的 20 和 99 Hz 脉冲以及蓝鲸和长须鲸的 18-28 Hz 合唱。在整个水听器部署期间都检测到蓝鲸的叫声，峰值出现在 2 月份，表明在广阔的南大洋区域（给定模拟的检测范围）中持续存在鲸鱼。1 月至 7 月当海冰出现在后一个日期时，会检测到长须鲸的叫声。蓝鲸和长须鲸的觅食率峰值在秋季没有出现时间隔离，但在夏季有明显的时间隔离。声学传播模型表明，春季可以在距离水听器位置 1700 公里远的地方听到蓝鲸和长须鲸的叫声。随机森林模型将一年中的月份列为这些鲸鱼的呼叫发生和呼叫率（即行为）的最重要预测因子。我们的工作强调了莫德海隆周围地区是南大洋蓝鲸和长须鲸的重要栖息地。但夏季明显存在明显的时间隔离。声学传播模型表明，春季可以在距离水听器位置 1700 公里远的地方听到蓝鲸和长须鲸的叫声。随机森林模型将一年中的月份列为这些鲸鱼的呼叫发生和呼叫率（即行为）的最重要预测因子。我们的工作强调了莫德海隆周围地区是南大洋蓝鲸和长须鲸的重要栖息地。但夏季明显存在明显的时间隔离。声学传播模型表明，春季可以在距离水听器位置 1700 公里远的地方听到蓝鲸和长须鲸的叫声。随机森林模型将一年中的月份列为这些鲸鱼的呼叫发生和呼叫率（即行为）的最重要预测因子。我们的工作强调了莫德海隆周围地区是南大洋蓝鲸和长须鲸的重要栖息地。