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.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2016
• Subjects: Harbour seal; Phoca vitulina; Hearing; ABR; Low-frequency; harbour seal
• Online Access: https://research-portal.st-andrews.ac.uk/en/researchoutput/aerial-low-frequency-hearing-in-captive-and-freeranging-harbour-seals-phoca-vitulina-using-auditory-brainstem-responses(14a94a21-e812-447e-80dc-e8b23f0a16d4).html; https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-016-1126-8; https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/bitstream/10023/9739/1/Lucke_2016_Aerial_JCPA_CC.pdf

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.