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

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...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of Comparative Physiology A
Main Authors: Lucke, K., Hastie, Gordon D., Ternes, Kerstin, McConnell, Bernie, Moss, Simon, Russell, Deborah J.F., Weber, Heike, Janik, Vincent M.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2016
Subjects:
ABR
Harbour seal
Hearing
Low frequency
Phoca vitulina
harbour seal
Online Access:https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/aerial-low-frequency-hearing-in-captive-and-free-ranging-harbour-
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-016-1126-8
Description
Summary: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.

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