Diel changes in the movement patterns of Ganges River dolphins monitored using stationed stereo acoustic data loggers |
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Authors: | Yukiko Sasaki‐Yamamoto Tomonari Akamatsu Tamaki Ura Harumi Sugimatsu Junichi Kojima Rajendar Bahl Sandeep Behera Shiro Kohshima |
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Institution: | 1. Wildlife Research Center of Kyoto University, , Kyoto, Japan;2. National Research Institute of Fisheries Engineering, Fisheries Research Agency, , Ibaraki, Japan;3. Japan Science and Technology Agency, CREST, , Tokyo, 102‐0075 Japan;4. Underwater Technology Research Center, Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo, , Tokyo, Japan;5. KDDI R&D Laboratories, , Kamifukuoka, Japan;6. Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, , New Delhi, India;7. WWF India, , New Delhi, India;8. Wildlife Research Center of Kyoto University, , Kyoto, 606‐8203 Japan |
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Abstract: | We monitored the underwater movements of Ganges River dolphins using stationed stereo acoustic data loggers. We estimated these movements using changes in the relative angle of the sound source direction (trajectory). Of the total acoustic recordings (66 h), 26.2% contained trajectories of dolphins, and 78.6% of these trajectories involved single animals, suggesting that dolphins tended to swim alone and were localized near the monitoring station. The observed trajectories were categorized as follows: staying type characterized by small changes in the sound source direction, moving type A (moving in the same direction), and moving type B (moving up and down the stream during recording). The average interpulse intervals of sounds in moving types A and B were significantly shorter than that of the staying type, suggesting that dolphins produce the former types of trajectories to echolocate across shorter distances during movement. The frequency of occurrence of moving type A increased during the night, whereas that of type B increased in the late afternoon and that of the staying type increased during the daytime. These results indicate that dolphins moving at night tended to use short‐range echolocation, whereas during the day, they remained in relatively small areas and used long‐range sonar. |
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Keywords: | A‐tag diel activity pattern echolocation Ganges River dolphin
Platanista gangetica gangetica
passive acoustic monitoring |
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