Environmental correlates of blue and fin whale call detections in the North Pacific Ocean from 1997 to 2002

The article of record as published may be found at https://doi.org/10.3354/meps08362A 6 yr time series of blue whale Balaenoptera musculus and fin whale B. physalus call detections in the North Pacific Ocean was correlated with 3 oceanographic variables (sea-surface temperature, chlorophyll a concentration, and mixed layer depth), to investigate the broad-scale calling behavior of these species. Monthly values for satellite-derived oceanographic data and whale call data were compared for 4 regions (30° longitude by 15° of latitude) encompassing the whole subarctic North Pacific and an area in the temperate northeastern Pacific. To determine predictive models for whale call occurrence, generalized linear models were used to determine which, if any, oceanographic variables might influence whale calling behavior over such broad space and time scales. Sea-surface temperature was the best oceanographic variable for predicting whale call detections for both species and all regions.Funding over the years was provided by SERDP through SPAWAR (D. Conlon), the Marine Mammal Program of the Office of Naval Research (R. Gisiner, N00014- 96-1-1130), the Chief of Naval Operations Environmental Program N45 (F. Stone and E. Young), the US Army Corps of Engineers (DCA87-00-H-0026), funding from the Department of Defense Legacy Resource Management Program and from the Naval Postgraduate School (C. Collins, N00244-07-1-0017 to K.M.S. and N00244-07-1-0014 to M.A.D.)