Dunlop Rebecca, Noad Michael
School of the Environment, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
School of Veterinary Science, University of Queensland, Gatton, QLD, Australia.
Commun Biol. 2024 Oct 1;7(1):1232. doi: 10.1038/s42003-024-06908-w.
Ocean noise produced by seismic exploration has been implicated in causing changes in baleen whale hearing, physiology, feeding, breeding, and migratory behaviours. Here, we observed changes in the mating tactics of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) during a one-hour exposure to nearby seismic air guns. Males employ a conditional mating strategy where they switch between singing and non-singing tactics. Singing is presumably an advertisement signal, while non-singing behaviours include seeking out and joining with females as well as forming competitive groups. During periods of active air guns, the number of male singing whales increased, and singers were more likely to be observed joining females. Conversely, non-singing males were less likely to engage in joining interactions suggesting that active air guns caused a switch in male breeding tactics. Though we cannot translate these effects into changes in breeding success, this indicates that seismic exploration has the potential to alter breeding behaviours in baleen whales.
地震勘探产生的海洋噪音被认为会导致须鲸的听力、生理、觅食、繁殖和迁徙行为发生变化。在此，我们观察了座头鲸（Megaptera novaeangliae）在暴露于附近地震气枪一小时期间交配策略的变化。雄性采用一种有条件的交配策略，即在唱歌和不唱歌策略之间切换。唱歌大概是一种广告信号，而不唱歌行为包括寻找并与雌性交配以及形成竞争群体。在气枪活跃期间，雄性唱歌的鲸鱼数量增加，而且观察到唱歌的鲸鱼更有可能与雌性交配。相反，不唱歌的雄性进行交配互动的可能性较小，这表明活跃的气枪导致了雄性繁殖策略的转变。尽管我们无法将这些影响转化为繁殖成功率的变化，但这表明地震勘探有可能改变须鲸的繁殖行为。
