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Rendezvous with sperm whales for biological observations is made challenging by their prolonged dive patterns. Here, we propose an algorithmic framework that codevelops multiagent reinforcement learning–based routing (autonomy module) and synthetic aperture radar–based very high frequency (VHF) signal–based bearing estimation (sensing module) for maximizing rendezvous opportunities of autonomous robots with sperm whales. The sensing module is compatible with low-energy VHF tags commonly used for tracking wildlife. The autonomy module leverages in situ noisy bearing measurements of whale vocalizations, VHF tags, and whale dive behaviors to enable time-critical rendezvous of a robot team with multiple whales in simulation. We conducted experiments at sea in the native habitat of sperm whales using an “engineered whale”—a speedboat equipped with a VHF-emitting tag, emulating five distinct whale tracks, with different whale motions. The sensing module shows a median bearing error of 10.55° to the tag. Using bearing measurements to the engineered whale from an acoustic sensor and our sensing module, our autonomy module gives an aggregate rendezvous success rate of 81.31% for a 500-meter rendezvous distance using three robots in postprocessing. A second class of fielded experiments that used acoustic-only bearing measurements to three untagged sperm whales showed an aggregate rendezvous success rate of 68.68% for a 1000-meter rendezvous distance using two robots in postprocessing. We further validated these algorithms with several ablation studies using a sperm whale visual encounter dataset collected by marine biologists.
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This content will become publicly available on December 1, 2025
Evidence for seasonal migration by a cryptic top predator of the deep sea
Abstract BackgroundIn ecosystems influenced by strong seasonal variation in insolation, the fitness of diverse taxa depends on seasonal movements to track resources along latitudinal or elevational gradients. Deep pelagic ecosystems, where sunlight is extremely limited, represent Earth’s largest habitable space and yet ecosystem phenology and effective animal movement strategies in these systems are little understood. Sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) provide a valuable acoustic window into this world: the echolocation clicks they produce while foraging in the deep sea are the loudest known biological sounds on Earth and convey detailed information about their behavior. MethodsWe analyze seven years of continuous passive acoustic observations from the Central California Current System, using automated methods to identify both presence and demographic information from sperm whale echolocation clicks. By integrating empirical results with individual-level movement simulations, we test hypotheses about the movement strategies underlying sperm whales’ long-distance movements in the Northeast Pacific. ResultsWe detect foraging sperm whales of all demographic groups year-round in the Central California Current System, but also identify significant seasonality in frequency of presence. Among several previously hypothesized movement strategies for this population, empirical acoustic observations most closely match simulated results from a population undertaking a “seasonal resource-tracking migration”, in which individuals move to track moderate seasonal-latitudinal variation in resource availability. DiscussionOur findings provide evidence for seasonal movements in this cryptic top predator of the deep sea. We posit that these seasonal movements are likely driven by tracking of deep-sea resources, based on several lines of evidence: (1) seasonal-latitudinal patterns in foraging sperm whale detection across the Northeast Pacific; (2) lack of demographic variation in seasonality of presence; and (3) the match between simulations of seasonal resource-tracking migration and empirical results. We show that sperm whales likely track oceanographic seasonality in a manner similar to many surface ocean predators, but with dampened seasonal-latitudinal movement patterns. These findings shed light on the drivers of sperm whales’ long-distance movements and the shrouded phenology of the deep-sea ecosystems in which they forage.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2103137
- PAR ID:
- 10586197
- Publisher / Repository:
- Springer Nature
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Movement Ecology
- Volume:
- 12
- Issue:
- 1
- ISSN:
- 2051-3933
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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