A new understanding of how the narwhal behaves came from studying an adult male whose movements were recorded in the
“Despite the fact that ocean sensors onanimals continue to improve and collect more data, there are not enough adequate methods for analyzing records of irregular behavior,” says Evgeny A. Podolsky, a geologist at the University of Hokkaido in Japan and the first author of the study.
Hoping to fix this, Podolsky teamed up withMads Peter Heide-Jorgensen, a marine biologist at the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, to develop a new way to detect patterns in the seemingly random habits of narwhals.
By combining their specialties in the field of processingsignals and biology, Podolsky and Heide-Jorgensen have developed a method that uses mathematical techniques borrowed from chaos theory to understand chaotic behavior under dynamic conditions.
Chaos theory is the study of activities that seem unpredictable but are governed by strict sets of laws.
Researchers explain that these methods canreveal hidden states known as "attractors" to which chaotic systems tend to develop. They could help scientists find hard-to-detect patterns in some complex processes, including the mysterious behavior of the narwhal.
Chaos theory tools have helped uncover this narwhal's hidden daily routine, including new details on how these habits can be affected by variables such as seasonal changes.
Here's what they found: the narwhal tended to rest closer to the surface around noon, but when it did dive at that time, it went especially deep.
The researchers report that twilight and night dives occurred in shallow water, but were also more intense, possibly because the narwhal preyed on squid.
The study showed that narwhal alsoadapted its behavior patterns in response to the prevalence of sea ice. Not only did it decrease its activity on the surface during periods when sea ice was more abundant, but it also exhibited more intense diving behavior.
Narwhals are not listed as an endangered species.by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, but they are still considered vulnerable to human activities, from ship traffic and water pollution to climate change. Some populations may be endangered.
Narwhal life is closely linked to sea ice, which is rapidly shrinking due to global climate change, and information about their behavior could be useful for their protection.
The researchers also write in their work thatchaos theory can be useful for a broader analysis of animal behavior. This will help understand the challenges Arctic wildlife face, such as rising temperatures, although this approach is still in its infancy.
More research (and more narwhals) will be needed, as the new study is based only on the behavior of one individual.
However, they cover an "unusually long period" of almost three months, the researchers add, noting that comparable records often span only a few days.
“Our approach is relatively easy to implement,”the authors explain, “and can display and label long-term data, identifying differences in behavior between individual animals and species, and detecting perturbations in behavior caused by changing exposures.”
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