Detection, communication, and individual identification with deep audio embeddings: A case study with North Atlantic right whales

Anthropogenic noise has increased ambient sound levels across the globe, both underwater and on land. Among its many negative impacts, heightened noise can impair communication in vocal animals through acoustic masking. Conceptually, noise reduces the animal's communication space - the area in which an individual animal can effectively convey information to a conspecific listener. Previous studies have estimated the communication space using sound propagation models and/or behavioral studies. However, studies frequently equate signal recognition with signal detection - a necessary but not sufficient precondition - thereby persistently overestimating spatial coverage and underestimating anthropogenic impacts. Measuring communication is inherently difficult, and varies with taxa, call type, and context, leading to significant data gaps in key parameters. We propose that deep learning creates an opportunity to estimate biologically-relevant communication, even for data-limited species. In particular, we present a case study with the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis; hereafter NARW). Prior research has demonstrated that the upcall - a low-frequency contact call produced across ages and sexes - encodes individual identity. We therefore consider a dataset of NARW vocalizations recorded with on-animal archival tags, spanning 234 samples across 11 individuals from 3 sites. First, we demonstrate that audio embeddings from the BirdNET model can robustly distinguish individual right whales. Then, we simulate the effect of varying ambient noise levels to estimate signal excess for both signal detection and individual identification, finding that an additional ≥7 dB is necessary for the model to distinguish individuals. Altogether, we hope this work provides both a methodological advance for individual identification and a framework for better understanding anthropogenic impacts on vocal wildlife.