- Email: [email protected]
Behaviour of marine animals. vol. 3: Cetaceans
277 QUANTIFYING
MOBY
DICK
Behauiour of Marine Animals. Vol. 3: Cetaceans. H.E. Winn and B.L. Olla (Editors). Plenum Press, New York-London, 1979. 438 pp. US$45.00/ $23.63, ISBN o-306-37573-7. Few studies of animal behavior are as burdened with technical problems as the study of cetacean behavior. The animals are either widely distributed in their natural oceanic environment, making direct observation for any prolonged period of time close to impossible, or they are observed or even trained in aquaria, causing unknown changes in their behavior. From aquarium studies one can learn a great deal about behavioral and sensory potential, but the animal’s relationship with its natural physical and social environment remains an open question. To piece together a coherent picture of their natural history and behavior from observation points widely scattered in time and space is very difficult indeed. Through the use of individual markings such as fluke shapes and patterns, the research has now at least advanced to the level where individual animals can be recognized from time to time and place to place. It is the great virtue of the third volume in the series “Behavior of Marine Animals” that it addresses specifically this difficult question of cetacean behavior in the field. The book contains twelve chapters; the first two deal with techniques of field study, the next five with natural history of different species, and the last five with descriptions and possible significance of vocalization. These twelve chapters form a loose collection, each one very different in purpose, size, and quality. Some are brief research reports, others complete reviews; some are concise summaries, others lengthy presentations of raw or nearly raw data. Even the quality of illustration material varies greatly from chapter to chapter. Finally, there is a noticeable and somewhat disturbing difference in the currency of the various chapters; some provide up to date (1979) coverage of the literature, whereas others appear as much as six years out of date. It is not clear why the editors, who collected contributions for this volume over about a 5-year period, have not insisted on updating the older chapters. This clearly diminishes the value of the book as a whole, particularly because in recent years a mini-boom of cetacean research has produced many new practical and theoretical developments. Inherent in cetacean research - as one might expect - is that the data mostly consist of scattered bits and pieces. This is reflected in some chapters by long lists of raw data, long descriptions of single observations, or photographs and sonagrams of marginal quality. A few chapters, in fact, seem to have been inspired by maximal coverage of minimal data followed by pages of speculative discussion. One cannot blame the authors and editors for the difficulty in data collection, and indeed the presentation of data this book affords is its main value. However, to insure the best information transfer to the reader, the editors should have insisted that the authors stay clear from the tempta-
278
tion - all too easy when good, coherent data are rare - to belabor their raw data or speculative conclusions. Tedium hinders understanding and interest. The most dedicated readers can always contact the authors personally. Despite these sometimes annoying shortcomings, the book fills a real void. Anyone interested in the natural history, behavior, and vocalizations of whales, dolphins and porpoises should not ignore this useful collection of papers. There is no other volume in the literature where so many different research results of cetacean behavior field studies are brought together. Particularly beginning students in cetacean field research can make excellent use of the material presented. This book might serve them well for their initial reading. JELLE Boston Marine Woods ANIMAL
MIGRATION,
Animal Migration,
ORIENTATION
Orientation
AND NAVIGATION
and Navigation.
tor). Academic Press, New York, ISBN o-12-277750-6.
ATEMA University Marine Program, Biological Laboratory, Hole, MA 02543, U.S.A.
NY, 1980.
Sidney A. Gauthreaux (Edixii + 387 pp., US$39.00,
Our knowledge in the field of animal migration, orientation, and navigation has grown so much that soon a single author will no longer be able to write a fairly comprehensive and reasonably balanced review. The present volume is a successful attempt to distribute the burden on the shoulders of six co-authors for five chapters. Each chapter deals with one major aspect of animal migration and includes in the discussion of this aspect various animal taxa from invertebrates through vertebrates. Most previously published books were organized the other way around. In chapter 1, Ecology and Evolution of Migration, H. Dingle defines migration as “specialized behavior especially evolved for the displacement of the individual in space” and differentiates it particularly from R.R. Baker’s controversial all-inclusive definition. The chapter discusses strategies of migration as one very important factor of population biology and evolutionary ecology. In chapter 2, The Influence of Long-Term and Short-Term Climatic Changes on the Dispersal and Migration of Organisms, the editor of the volume, S.A. Gauthreaux discusses the adaptation of animal movements to environmental fluctuations such as paleoclimatological changes, annual, die1 and semidiel periodicities. In chapter 3, The Energetics of Migration, C.R. Blem reviews migration not only under the aspect of energetic cost and requirements but also with respect to the proximate cues that control and mechanisms and strategies that ensure the formation and utilization of fuel storage. In chapter 4, Physiology of Migration, A.H. Meier and A.J. Fivizzani approach aspects
MOBY
DICK
Behauiour of Marine Animals. Vol. 3: Cetaceans. H.E. Winn and B.L. Olla (Editors). Plenum Press, New York-London, 1979. 438 pp. US$45.00/ $23.63, ISBN o-306-37573-7. Few studies of animal behavior are as burdened with technical problems as the study of cetacean behavior. The animals are either widely distributed in their natural oceanic environment, making direct observation for any prolonged period of time close to impossible, or they are observed or even trained in aquaria, causing unknown changes in their behavior. From aquarium studies one can learn a great deal about behavioral and sensory potential, but the animal’s relationship with its natural physical and social environment remains an open question. To piece together a coherent picture of their natural history and behavior from observation points widely scattered in time and space is very difficult indeed. Through the use of individual markings such as fluke shapes and patterns, the research has now at least advanced to the level where individual animals can be recognized from time to time and place to place. It is the great virtue of the third volume in the series “Behavior of Marine Animals” that it addresses specifically this difficult question of cetacean behavior in the field. The book contains twelve chapters; the first two deal with techniques of field study, the next five with natural history of different species, and the last five with descriptions and possible significance of vocalization. These twelve chapters form a loose collection, each one very different in purpose, size, and quality. Some are brief research reports, others complete reviews; some are concise summaries, others lengthy presentations of raw or nearly raw data. Even the quality of illustration material varies greatly from chapter to chapter. Finally, there is a noticeable and somewhat disturbing difference in the currency of the various chapters; some provide up to date (1979) coverage of the literature, whereas others appear as much as six years out of date. It is not clear why the editors, who collected contributions for this volume over about a 5-year period, have not insisted on updating the older chapters. This clearly diminishes the value of the book as a whole, particularly because in recent years a mini-boom of cetacean research has produced many new practical and theoretical developments. Inherent in cetacean research - as one might expect - is that the data mostly consist of scattered bits and pieces. This is reflected in some chapters by long lists of raw data, long descriptions of single observations, or photographs and sonagrams of marginal quality. A few chapters, in fact, seem to have been inspired by maximal coverage of minimal data followed by pages of speculative discussion. One cannot blame the authors and editors for the difficulty in data collection, and indeed the presentation of data this book affords is its main value. However, to insure the best information transfer to the reader, the editors should have insisted that the authors stay clear from the tempta-
278
tion - all too easy when good, coherent data are rare - to belabor their raw data or speculative conclusions. Tedium hinders understanding and interest. The most dedicated readers can always contact the authors personally. Despite these sometimes annoying shortcomings, the book fills a real void. Anyone interested in the natural history, behavior, and vocalizations of whales, dolphins and porpoises should not ignore this useful collection of papers. There is no other volume in the literature where so many different research results of cetacean behavior field studies are brought together. Particularly beginning students in cetacean field research can make excellent use of the material presented. This book might serve them well for their initial reading. JELLE Boston Marine Woods ANIMAL
MIGRATION,
Animal Migration,
ORIENTATION
Orientation
AND NAVIGATION
and Navigation.
tor). Academic Press, New York, ISBN o-12-277750-6.
ATEMA University Marine Program, Biological Laboratory, Hole, MA 02543, U.S.A.
NY, 1980.
Sidney A. Gauthreaux (Edixii + 387 pp., US$39.00,
Our knowledge in the field of animal migration, orientation, and navigation has grown so much that soon a single author will no longer be able to write a fairly comprehensive and reasonably balanced review. The present volume is a successful attempt to distribute the burden on the shoulders of six co-authors for five chapters. Each chapter deals with one major aspect of animal migration and includes in the discussion of this aspect various animal taxa from invertebrates through vertebrates. Most previously published books were organized the other way around. In chapter 1, Ecology and Evolution of Migration, H. Dingle defines migration as “specialized behavior especially evolved for the displacement of the individual in space” and differentiates it particularly from R.R. Baker’s controversial all-inclusive definition. The chapter discusses strategies of migration as one very important factor of population biology and evolutionary ecology. In chapter 2, The Influence of Long-Term and Short-Term Climatic Changes on the Dispersal and Migration of Organisms, the editor of the volume, S.A. Gauthreaux discusses the adaptation of animal movements to environmental fluctuations such as paleoclimatological changes, annual, die1 and semidiel periodicities. In chapter 3, The Energetics of Migration, C.R. Blem reviews migration not only under the aspect of energetic cost and requirements but also with respect to the proximate cues that control and mechanisms and strategies that ensure the formation and utilization of fuel storage. In chapter 4, Physiology of Migration, A.H. Meier and A.J. Fivizzani approach aspects