Hearing thresholds of harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) for playbacks of seal scarer signals, and effects of the signals on behavior

Acoustic mitigation devices (AMDs) are used to deter marine mammals from construction sites to prevent hearing injury by offshore pile-driving noise. In order to quantify the distance at which AMDs designed as ‘seal scarers’ are detected by seals, the 50% hearing thresholds for playbacks of their sounds were determined. The broadband hearing...

Temporary hearing threshold shift in a harbor porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) after exposure to multiple airgun sounds

In seismic surveys, reflected sounds from airguns are used under water to detect gas and oil below the sea floor. The airguns produce broadband high-amplitude impulsive sounds, which may cause temporary or permanent threshold shifts (TTS or PTS) in cetaceans. The magnitude of the threshold shifts and the hearing frequencies at which they occur...

Effect of Pile-Driving Playback Sound Level on Fish-Catching Efficiency in Harbor Porpoises (Phocoena phocoena)

Lack of reproducibility of temporary hearing threshold shifts in a harbor porpoise after exposure to repeated airgun sounds

Noise-induced temporary hearing threshold shift (TTS) was studied in a harbor porpoise exposed to impulsive sounds of scaled-down airguns while both stationary and free-swimming for up to 90 min. In a previous study, ∼4 dB TTS was elicited in this porpoise, but despite 8 dB higher single-shot and cumulative exposure levels (up to 199 dB re 1...

Behavioral Responses of a Harbor Porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) Depend on the Frequency Content of Pile-Driving Sounds