Passive acoustics suggest two different feeding mechanisms in the Atlantic walrus (Odobenus rosmarus rosmarus)
Type | Article | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Date | 2022-06 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Language | English | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Author(s) | Jézéquel Youenn1, Mathias Delphine2, Olivier Frédéric3, Amice Erwan4, Chauvaud Sylvain5, Jolivet Aurélie5, Bonnel Julien6, Sejr Mikael K.7, Chauvaud Laurent4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Affiliation(s) | 1 : Biology Department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA, 02543, USA 2 : SOMME, Société d’Observation Multi-Modale de L’Environnement, 2 rue de Suède. Bloc 03, 56400, Auray, France 3 : Biologie des Organismes et Écosystèmes Aquatiques (BOREA), UMR 7208, MNHN/SUUNICAEN/UACNRS/IRD, 61 Rue Buffon CP 53, 75005, Paris, France 4 : Laboratoire des Sciences de L’Environnement Marin (LEMAR), UMR 6539 UBO, CNRS, IRD/Ifremer, Rue Dumont D’Urville, 29280, Plouzané, France 5 : TBM Environnement, Porte Océane Bloc 03, 2 rue de Suède, 56400, Auray, France 6 : Applied Ocean Physics & Engineering, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA, 02540, USA 7 : Arctic Research Centre, Department of EcoScience, Aarhus University, Vejlsøvej 25, 8600, Silkeborg, Denmark |
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Source | Polar Biology (0722-4060) (Springer Science and Business Media LLC), 2022-06 , Vol. 45 , N. 6 , P. 1157-1162 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
DOI | 10.1007/s00300-022-03055-y | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
WOS© Times Cited | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Keyword(s) | Bioacoustics, Bivalves, Feeding behavior, Marine mammal, Young Sound fjord | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Abstract | The vocal repertoire of walruses has been widely described in the bioacoustic literature. These marine mammals produce several distinct types of vocalizations for intraspecific communication during the breeding season. In this study, we provide the first evidence of walrus-generated sounds during foraging dives when they feed on bivalves. We recorded two types of sounds that we associated to different feeding mechanisms. The first sound type was brief and low in frequency that we relate to the suction of soft parts from the bivalves’ shells through the use of walrus powerful tongues, which is the common feeding behavior reported in the walrus literature. We also recorded a second sound type composed of multiple broadband pulse trains. We hypothesize the latter were associated with bivalve shell cracking by walruses, which would represent a new feeding mechanism in the walrus literature. This new feeding mechanism is either related to bivalves’ ecology or to walruses removing the sediment when searching for food. During this study, we observed bivalves lying on the seafloor instead of being buried in the sediment in walrus feeding areas while scuba diving. As a result, walruses cannot use suction to feed on soft body part of bivalves and have to use another strategy, mastication. Our findings provide a first step towards using passive acoustics to quantify walrus behavior and feeding ecology. |
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