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Hawaiian Humpback Whales and ATOC: A Conflict of Interests
- Louis M. Herman
- (C) 1994 by theJournal of Environment and Development: A Review
of International Policy produced at the University of California.
The island of Kauai has been selected as a site for the transmission
of high-intensity low-frequency sounds as part of the wATOC
project. However, Kauai is also a winter habitat of increasing
importance to humpback whales and endangered species. Major
reproductive activities- seeking and finding mates, and bearing
and rearing calves-takes place in Kauai and other areas of the
humpbacks winter range. At Kauai, male whales produce long,
complex songs throughout the winter months. The songs are dynamic
in composition but all singers tend to converge on the same
rendition at the same time, indicating that are listening to
one another. Also, females may derive information from the song
about the singers desirability or fitness as a mate. Components
of the song lie within the frequency band of the ATOC signal.
During ATOC transmission these components will be partially
masked, making them less detectable or recognizable to listening
whales, and thereby degrading auditory communication. Also,
whales residing in the waters of North Kauai for extended periods
will be exposed to the potentially stressful effects of the
high ambient noise levels produced by ATOC transmissions, but
these effects will be difficult to detect by any behavioral
monitoring program. It is recommended, therefore, that the ATOC
project seek an alternative site for its sound transmissions
that is not regularly inhabited by humpback whales or other
endangered baleen whales having low-frequency hearing. Several
alternative sites are suggested.
Herman, L. M. (1994). Hawaiian Humpback Whales and ATOC: A Conflict
of Interests. The Journal of Environment and Development, 3,
63-76.
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