DOI: 10.5061/dryad.vmcvdnd1x
title: Context-driven communication during deep-sea foraging in a social toothed whale

description: Social deep-diving odontocetes face the challenge of balancing
 near-surface proximity to oxygen and group members with foraging in the
 deep sea. Individuals rely on conspecifics for critical life functions,
 such as predator defence, but disperse during foraging to feed
 individually. To understand the role of social acoustic mediation during
 foraging in deep-diving toothed whales, we investigated the context of
 social burst-pulse call production in Risso’s dolphin (Grampus griseus)
 using biologgers. Dolphins produced context-specific burst-pulses
 predominantly during daytime foraging, preceding or following foraging
 dives and in the early descent of daytime deep dives. Individuals applied
 differential short and long burst-pulse calls intended for either
 near-surface receivers (horizontal transmission) or deep-foraging
 receivers (vertical transmission). Our results show that deep-diving
 toothed whales are reliant on acoustic communication during certain
 foraging contexts, to relay information, including foraging conditions or
 an individual’s location. Moreover, they accentuate the importance of
 maintaining acoustic contact with conspecifics, specifically when
 dispersed during deeper foraging. It also signifies that our oceanic top
 predators may be specifically vulnerable to the current strong increase in
 anthropogenic noise. Potential masking of the signals from group-members
 communicating at a distance could undermine their social cohesion, and
 hence their capacity to maintain vital life functions.
description: # Context-driven communication during deep-sea foraging in a
 social-toothed whale
 [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.vmcvdnd1x](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.vmcvdnd1x) ## GENERAL INFORMATION 1\. Title of Dataset: Supporting GEE data. Context-driven communication during deep-sea foraging in a social-toothed whale. Hessing et al., 2024 2\. Author Information ``` Author for correspondence Name: F Visser Institution: 1) Kelp Marine Research, 1624 CJ, Hoorn, The Netherlands 2) Department of Coastal Systems,Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, PO Box 59, Den Burg, 1790 AB, The Netherlands Email: fvisser@kelpmarineresearch.com ``` 3\. Date of data collection: 2013-2019 4\. Geographic location of data collection: Terceira Island, Azores, Portugal ## SHARING/ACCESS INFORMATION 1\. Licenses/restrictions placed on the data: request permission to use to the author for correspondence 2\. Recommended citation for this dataset: dataset from Hessing S, Risser N, Pichot L,Oudejans MG, Guilpin M, Barcelos LMD, Curé C, Visser F. 2024 Context-driven communication during deep-sea foraging in a social-toothed whale. R. Soc. Open Sci. 11: 240558. [https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.240558](https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.240558) ## DATA & FILE OVERVIEW DATA & FILE OVERVIEW 1\. File List: The Supporting GEE data file consists of 3 sheets. SHEET 1: GEE1-3 SHEET 2: GEE2 SHEET 3: GEE4-5 ## METHODOLOGICAL INFORMATION 1\. Description of methods used for collection/generation of data: Data was collected using Dtags. 2\. Methods for processing the data: Data were extracted from the Dtag sensors using standard methods as described in Hessing et al., 2024 3\. Instrument- or software-specific information needed to interpret the data: N/A 4\. Standards and calibration information, if appropriate: N/A 5\. Environmental/experimental conditions: Variable, open ocean environment ## DATA-SPECIFIC INFORMATION FOR: SUPPORTING GEE DATA - SHEET 1: GEE1-3 \ 1\. Number of variables: 10 2\. Number of cases/rows: 147 3\. Variable List: Whale_id = identifier of a tagged individual in this dataset (whale nr 1 was tagged twice) Tag_id = individual identifier of tagged Risso's dolphin (gg = species, 1x = year (201x), yyya/b/c = julian day in the year + first/second/third tag deployment on that day) Divecategory = one of 4 dive categories, spin day, spin night, non-spin day or non-spin night. Divetype = a dive is classified as 'spin' or 'non-spin' following Visser et al., 2021 Timeofday = a dive is classified as 'day' or 'night' by the timing of dive onset relative to local sunset PRE = Burst-pulse calls produced 0-16 minutes preceding the foraging dive DES = Burst-pulse calls produced during the descent phase (period from surface till the first buzz) FOR = Burst-pulse calls produced during foraging (period between first and last buzz) ASC = Burst-pulse calls produced during ascent (period from last buzz till resurfacing) POST = Burst-pulse calls produced 0-16 minutes following the foraging dive 4\. Missing data codes: N/A ## DATA-SPECIFIC INFORMATION FOR: SUPPORTING GEE DATA - SHEET 2: GEE2 \ 1\. Number of variables: 4 2\. Number of cases/rows: 401 3\. Variable List: Whale_id =identifier of a tagged individual in this dataset (whale nr 1 was tagged twice) Tag_id = individual identifier of tagged Risso's dolphin (gg = species, 1x = year (201x), yyya/b/c = julian day in the year + first/second/third tag deployment on that day) Divecycle = timing of the burst-pulse within the dive cycle, either at the surface (PRE or POST diving) or during the dive (DES, or ASC). Duration_bp = time in seconds of burst-pulse call 4\. Missing data codes: N/A ## DATA-SPECIFIC INFORMATION FOR: SUPPORTING GEE DATA - SHEET 3: GEE4-5 \ 1\. Number of variables: 7 2\. Number of cases/rows: 150 3\. Variable List: Whale_id = identifier of a tagged individual in this dataset (whale nr 1 was tagged twice) Tag_id = individual identifier of tagged Risso's dolphin (gg = species, 1x = year (201x), yyya/b/c = julian day in the year + first/second/third tag deployment on that day) Divecategory = one of 4 dive categories, spin day, spin night, non-spin day or non-spin night. Divetype = a dive is classified as 'spin' or 'non-spin' following Visser et al., 2021 Timeofday = a dive is classified as 'day' or 'night' by the timing of dive onset relative to local sunset Maxdepth = maximum dive depth in meters Depth_SOC = depth in meters of start production of echolocation clicks 4\. Missing data codes: N/A