Exposure to whale watching vessels affects dive ascents and resting behavior in sperm whales

Movement and acoustic data obtained from multi-sensor biologging devices are fundamental to assess the behavior of marine megafauna and also their responses to anthropogenic activities. We joined movement and acoustic data on 24 sperm whales instrumented with DTAGs, between 2017 and 2019 in the Azores archipelago, Portugal. Data were filtered to remove: a) the first foraging dive cycle or 1-hour of non-foraging period after tagging; b) periods that might be affected by the presence of the research boat; c) vertical orientation shift periods, during vertical resting. The dataset is presented in “per dive” (i.e., every row corresponds to a value/average per dive) as: the sperm whale identification (Pma_ID); the dive number (Dive); the number of buzzes (Buzzes); the number of buzzes per foraging phase (Buzz_per_min); the foraging dive duration in minutes (Foraging_dive_duration); the descent phase duration in minutes (Descent); the descent phase ratio within the whole dive (Descent_ratio); the bottom phase duration in minutes (Bottom); the bottom phase ratio within the whole dive (Bottom_ratio); the ascent phase duration in minutes (Ascent); the ascent phase ratio within the whole dive (Ascent_ratio); the search phase duration in minutes (Search); the search phase ratio within the whole dive (Search_ratio); the foraging phase duration in minutes (Foraging); the foraging phase ratio within the whole dive (Foraging_ratio); the presence of whale watching vessels per foraging dive (Vessel_per_dive; yes/no); the diel period (Day_night; day/night). For further details please check Oliveira et al. 2022 “Exposure to whale watching vessels affects dive ascents and resting behavior in sperm whales”.