Possible fish sounds recorded in the Salish Sea
Presentation Abstract
Several species of fish around the world have been reported to be soniferous. The types of sounds fish produce vary among species and regions but consist typically of low frequency (< 1kHz) pulses and amplitude modulated grunts or croaks. The characterization, identification, and purpose of fish sounds is still largely unknown. Among the ~400 known marine fish species frequenting the waters of British Columbia, only 22 have been reported to be soniferous (Wall et al., 2014). Many more species are suspected to produce sound, but have not been reported yet.
In 2014, two bottom mounted passive acoustic recorders were deployed to characterize the underwater soundscape in the Salish Sea. One was deployed off Hornby Island and was recording continuously at 48 kHz from June to September. The other recorder, located at the mouth of the Fraser Delta, was part of the VENUS cabled observatory and was recording continuously at 64 kHz from March to December. In both of these deployments, many low frequency sounds with acoustic properties similar to the fish sounds reported in various regions of the world were recorded. In order to investigate the provenance of these sounds, a detector based on image processing and machine learning techniques was developed to find these sounds automatically in recordings and allowed to describe their temporal occurrence at both locations. A clustering analysis was also performed to identify the different sound types detected. A comparison of the sound types between the two monitoring locations will be presented. This presentation will discuss what further steps are required to confirm that these sounds are indeed from fish and to link the different sound types identified to specific species.
Session Title
General species and food webs
Conference Track
Species and Food Webs
Conference Name
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference (2016 : Vancouver, B.C.)
Document Type
Event
Start Date
2016 12:00 AM
End Date
2016 12:00 AM
Location
2016SSEC
Type of Presentation
Oral
Genre/Form
conference proceedings; presentations (communicative events)
Contributing Repository
Digital content made available by University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University.
Subjects – Topical (LCSH)
Fish sounds; Fishes--Behavior--Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.); Fishes--Vocalization--Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.); Animal communication
Geographic Coverage
Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.)
Rights
This resource is displayed for educational purposes only and may be subject to U.S. and international copyright laws. For more information about rights or obtaining copies of this resource, please contact University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA 98225-9103, USA (360-650-7534; heritage.resources@wwu.edu) and refer to the collection name and identifier. Any materials cited must be attributed to the Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference Records, University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University.
Type
Text
Language
English
Format
application/pdf
Possible fish sounds recorded in the Salish Sea
2016SSEC
Several species of fish around the world have been reported to be soniferous. The types of sounds fish produce vary among species and regions but consist typically of low frequency (< 1kHz) pulses and amplitude modulated grunts or croaks. The characterization, identification, and purpose of fish sounds is still largely unknown. Among the ~400 known marine fish species frequenting the waters of British Columbia, only 22 have been reported to be soniferous (Wall et al., 2014). Many more species are suspected to produce sound, but have not been reported yet.
In 2014, two bottom mounted passive acoustic recorders were deployed to characterize the underwater soundscape in the Salish Sea. One was deployed off Hornby Island and was recording continuously at 48 kHz from June to September. The other recorder, located at the mouth of the Fraser Delta, was part of the VENUS cabled observatory and was recording continuously at 64 kHz from March to December. In both of these deployments, many low frequency sounds with acoustic properties similar to the fish sounds reported in various regions of the world were recorded. In order to investigate the provenance of these sounds, a detector based on image processing and machine learning techniques was developed to find these sounds automatically in recordings and allowed to describe their temporal occurrence at both locations. A clustering analysis was also performed to identify the different sound types detected. A comparison of the sound types between the two monitoring locations will be presented. This presentation will discuss what further steps are required to confirm that these sounds are indeed from fish and to link the different sound types identified to specific species.
