The recent identification of the bio-duck call as Antarctic minke whale (AMW) vocalization allows the use of passive acoustic monitoring to retrospectively investigate year-round spatial-temporal patterns in minke whale occurrence in ice-covered areas. Here, we present an analysis of AMW occurrence patterns based on a 9-year passive acoustic dataset (2008–2016) from 21 locations throughout the Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean (Weddell Sea). AMWs were detected acoustically at all mooring locations from May to December, with the highest presence between August and November (bio-duck calls present at more than 80% of days). At the southernmost recording locations, the bio-duck call was present up to 10 months of the year. Substantial inter-annual variation in the seasonality of vocal activity correlated to variation in local ice concentration. Our analysis indicates that part of the AMW population stays in the Weddell Sea during austral winter. The period with the highest acoustic presence in the Weddell Sea (September–October) coincides with the timing of the breeding season of AMW in lower latitudes. The bio-duck call could therefore play a role in mating, although other behavioural functions of the call cannot be excluded to date.

最近将生物鸭子称为南极小须鲸（AMW）发声，这使得可以使用无源声学监测来回顾性调查冰雪覆盖地区小须鲸发生时的全年时空格局。在这里，我们根据一个为期9年的被动声波数据集（2008-2016年），对整个南大洋大西洋地区（韦德尔海）的21个地点的AMW发生模式进行了分析。从5月到12月，在所有系泊位置都以声音方式检测到AMW，在8月到11月之间的出现率最高（在一天中有80％以上的时间都发生了生物鸭袭击）。在最南端的录音地点，一年中最多有10个月会出现生物鸭叫声。声乐活动季节性的年际变化与当地冰浓度的变化有关。我们的分析表明，在南方冬季期间，部分AMW人群留在了韦德尔海。韦德尔海（9月至10月）中声音存在量最高的时期与低纬地区AMW繁殖季节的时间恰好相符。因此，尽管迄今为止还不能排除其他的行为功能，但这种生物鸭子的呼叫可能会在交配中发挥作用。