Laurent Séréna, Poupard Marion, Ortolé Célia, Valin Céline, de Montgolfier Benjamin
Aquasearch, Sainte-Luce, Martinique.
Bio-Laurentia, Saint-Anaclet, Québec, Canada.
PeerJ. 2025 Jul 14;13:e19614. doi: 10.7717/peerj.19614. eCollection 2025.
For a deep-diving cetacean species like the sperm whale, acoustics is a vital tool for research. This need is especially pressing in the eastern Caribbean, where the habitat of marine mammals overlaps with heavy maritime traffic, leading to noise pollution and an increased risk of vessel collisions. To mitigate this risk, understanding their habitat use is essential. Mature males are generally solitary and migrate over long distances, while females and immatures form stable social units in subtropical and tropical waters. In this study, we examined intraspecific variation in distribution and habitat use among individuals along the Caribbean coast of Martinique, using both visual and acoustic data. Over the course of 24 surveys, 19 aggregations involving a total of 74 individual sightings were characterised, recognizing that some individuals may have been recorded multiple times. Using the inter-pulse interval (IPI) of clicks, we estimated individual size, which provided insights into the age and/or sex of each individual. Habitat characteristics included bathymetry, distance from the coast, and seabed slope. Our results on social structure are in line with previous literature: 37% of the aggregations were made up of females and/or juveniles, immatures, with a mature male nearby, with temporal changes in aggregations linked to male migration patterns. Spatial distribution and habitat use appeared consistent across aggregation types, regardless of group size, average individual size, or the presence of immatures. However, specific areas were identified for hunting and socialising based on bathymetry. This study highlights the importance of bathymetry and/or distance from the coast and temporal dynamics related to variations in weather conditions and movements of breeding males, in understanding habitat use by sperm whales in the eastern Caribbean. The lack of observed influence of seabed slope suggests that our spatial scale may have been too limited, or that finer details regarding seabed characteristics are needed. These findings could inform traffic management strategies to reduce the risk of vessel collisions with sperm whales.
对于抹香鲸这种深潜鲸类物种而言，声学是研究的重要工具。在东加勒比地区，这种需求尤为迫切，因为海洋哺乳动物的栖息地与繁忙的海上交通重叠，导致噪音污染以及船只碰撞风险增加。为降低这种风险，了解它们对栖息地的利用至关重要。成年雄性通常独居且远距离迁徙，而雌性和未成年抹香鲸则在亚热带和热带水域形成稳定的社会群体。在本研究中，我们利用视觉和声学数据，研究了马提尼克岛加勒比海岸个体间在分布和栖息地利用上的种内差异。在24次调查过程中，共记录了19个聚集群体，涉及74次个体目击，同时认识到有些个体可能被多次记录。通过点击声的脉冲间隔（IPI），我们估算了个体大小，这为了解每个个体的年龄和/或性别提供了线索。栖息地特征包括水深测量、距海岸距离和海床坡度。我们关于社会结构的研究结果与先前文献一致：37%的聚集群体由雌性和/或幼鲸、未成年抹香鲸组成，附近有一头成年雄性，聚集群体的时间变化与雄性迁徙模式相关。无论群体大小、平均个体大小或未成年抹香鲸的存在与否，空间分布和栖息地利用在不同聚集类型中似乎是一致的。然而，根据水深测量确定了用于捕猎和社交的特定区域。这项研究强调了水深测量和/或距海岸距离以及与天气条件变化和繁殖雄性活动相关的时间动态，对于理解东加勒比地区抹香鲸栖息地利用的重要性。未观察到海床坡度的影响表明，我们的空间尺度可能过于有限，或者需要关于海床特征的更精细细节。这些发现可为交通管理策略提供参考，以降低船只与抹香鲸碰撞的风险。
