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

• 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

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