Aerial low frequency hearing in captive and free-ranging harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) using auditory brainstem responses

The study was funded by a grant from the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) as part of their Offshore Energy Strategic Environmental Assessment programme. The hearing sensitivity of 18 free-ranging and 10 captive harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) to aerial sounds was measured in the pres...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of Comparative Physiology A
Main Authors: Lucke, Klaus, Hastie, Gordon Drummond, Ternes, Kerstin, McConnell, Bernie J, Moss, Simon, Russell, Deborah Jill, Weber, Heike, Janik, Vincent M.
Other Authors: NERC, University of St Andrews. School of Biology, University of St Andrews. Sea Mammal Research Unit, University of St Andrews. Marine Alliance for Science & Technology Scotland, University of St Andrews. Scottish Oceans Institute, University of St Andrews. Centre for Research into Ecological & Environmental Modelling, University of St Andrews. Institute of Behavioural and Neural Sciences, University of St Andrews. Centre for Social Learning & Cognitive Evolution, University of St Andrews. Bioacoustics group
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2016
Subjects:
Harbour seal
Phoca vitulina
Hearing
ABR
Low-frequency
GC Oceanography
QH301 Biology
T Technology
NERC
GC
QH301
T
harbour seal
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10023/9739
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-016-1126-8
Description
Summary:The study was funded by a grant from the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) as part of their Offshore Energy Strategic Environmental Assessment programme. The hearing sensitivity of 18 free-ranging and 10 captive harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) to aerial sounds was measured in the presence of typical environmental noise through auditory brainstem response measurements. A focus was put on the comparative hearing sensitivity at low frequencies. Low- and mid-frequency thresholds appeared to be elevated in both captive and free-ranging seals but this is likely due to masking effects and limitations of the methodology used. The data also showed individual variability in hearing sensitivity with probable age-related hearing loss found in two old harbour seals. These results suggest that the acoustic sensitivity of free-ranging animals was not negatively affected by the soundscape they experienced in the wild. Publisher PDF Peer reviewed

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