Underwater Sounds of Monodon (Narwhal)

Abstract

Field recordings of underwater sounds of the toothed whale Monodon monoceros exhibit consistent characteristics not noted in other odontocetes. The sounds were mostly narrow-band regularly spaced, and often high-frequency (to 24 kHz). The fundamentals of individual sound pulses ranged from 1.5 to 24 kHz. Both clicks (short pulses produced at repetition rates up to 300/sec) and tones (to 0.1-sec duration) were noted.