Research Document 2018/059

Fin whale continuous frequentation of St. Lawrence habitats detected from multi-year passive acoustic monitoring (PAM)

By Roy N., Simard, Y., Aulanier, F., and Giard, S

Abstract

The Atlantic fin whale is a regular visitor to the Lower Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence. From 2010 to 2017, their frequentation of this feeding habitat was monitored with a passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) observatory composed of four multi-year stations and four one-year stations that covered the two Gulf entrances and the expected incursion routes. The typical pulsed 20 Hz infrasonic call of fin whales was monitored with a dedicated algorithm.

Fin whale calls were detected year-round although only sporadically in June and July. In the southeastern Gulf, the intense call period extended from August to May. In the northwestern Gulf, it generally ended earlier in January. Calls were detected in both entrances of the Gulf, but occurred much more frequently in Cabot Strait. The occurrence time series does not support a slow synchronous annual migration of the individuals from the Atlantic to the Estuary and vice versa. The co-occurrence of detections at all sites during a large part of the annual cycle indicates a dispersed population over numerous sites of interest in the studied area.

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