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The Identification of Sea Lamprey Pheromones Using Bioassay-Guided Fractionation

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Echolocation by two foraging harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena).

Ursula K Verfuss¹, Lee A Miller, Peter K D Pilz

¹Fjord & Baelt, Margrethes Plads 1, DK-5300 Kerteminde, Denmark. ursula.verfuss@meeresmuseum.de

The Journal of Experimental Biology

|March 3, 2009

Summary

Harbour porpoises use echolocation clicks to locate prey, adjusting click intervals during search and approach phases. Blindfolded porpoises swam slower but maintained echolocation patterns.

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Area of Science:

Marine Mammal Behavior
Bioacoustics
Sensory Ecology

Background:

Understanding echolocation in marine mammals is crucial for their conservation.
Harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) rely heavily on echolocation for foraging.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the echolocation and swimming behavior of harbour porpoises during prey capture.
To analyze changes in echolocation click patterns during different behavioral phases.

Main Methods:

Synchronized video and high-frequency audio recordings of trained harbour porpoises.
Controlled experiments involving prey (fish) presentation and blindfolding.

Main Results:

Echolocation sequences were divided into search and approach phases with distinct click intervals.

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Range-locking behavior observed in the search phase, with decreasing click intervals.

A terminal 'buzz' phase with rapid clicks (1.5 ms intervals) occurred close to prey.

Blindfolded porpoises halved swimming speed but maintained echolocation click rates.

Conclusions:

Porpoises likely use 'pulse mode' for echo processing during search and initial approach.
A 'pitch mode' is hypothesized for the buzz phase, processing distance via click frequency.
Sensory compensation (reduced swimming speed) occurs when vision is impaired.