Intraspecific and spatial variation in habitat use by sperm whales (<i>Physeter macrocephalus</i>) along the west coast of Martinique
Bibliographic record
Abstract
For a deep-diving cetacean species like the sperm whale, acoustics is a vital tool for research. This need is especially pressing in the eastern Caribbean, where the habitat of marine mammals overlaps with heavy maritime traffic, leading to noise pollution and an increased risk of vessel collisions. To mitigate this risk, understanding their habitat use is essential. Mature males are generally solitary and migrate over long distances, while females and immatures form stable social units in subtropical and tropical waters. In this study, we examined intraspecific variation in distribution and habitat use among individuals along the Caribbean coast of Martinique, using both visual and acoustic data. Over the course of 24 surveys, 19 aggregations involving a total of 74 individual sightings were characterised, recognizing that some individuals may have been recorded multiple times. Using the inter-pulse interval (IPI) of clicks, we estimated individual size, which provided insights into the age and/or sex of each individual. Habitat characteristics included bathymetry, distance from the coast, and seabed slope. Our results on social structure are in line with previous literature: 37% of the aggregations were made up of females and/or juveniles, immatures, with a mature male nearby, with temporal changes in aggregations linked to male migration patterns. Spatial distribution and habitat use appeared consistent across aggregation types, regardless of group size, average individual size, or the presence of immatures. However, specific areas were identified for hunting and socialising based on bathymetry. This study highlights the importance of bathymetry and/or distance from the coast and temporal dynamics related to variations in weather conditions and movements of breeding males, in understanding habitat use by sperm whales in the eastern Caribbean. The lack of observed influence of seabed slope suggests that our spatial scale may have been too limited, or that finer details regarding seabed characteristics are needed. These findings could inform traffic management strategies to reduce the risk of vessel collisions with sperm whales.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.000 | 0.001 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Open science | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Research integrity | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.001 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".