Source parameter estimates of echolocation clicks from wild pygmy killer whales (Feresa attenuata) (L)

Pods of the little known pygmy killer whale (Feresa attenuata) in the northern Indian Ocean were recorded with a vertical hydrophone array connected to a digital recorder sampling at 320 kHz. Recorded clicks were directional, short (25 μs) transients with estimated source levels between 197 and 223 dB re. 1 μPa (pp). Spectra of clicks recorded close to or on the acoustic axis were bimodal with peak frequencies between 45 and 117 kHz, and with centroid frequencies between 70 and 85 kHz. The clicks share characteristics of echolocation clicks from similar sized, whistling delphinids, and have properties suited for the detection and classification of prey targeted by this odontocete.