Branstetter Brian K.

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Branstetter
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Brian K.
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  • Article
    Auditory sensitivity in aquatic animals
    (Acoustical Society of America, 2016-06-08) Lucke, Klaus ; Popper, Arthur N. ; Hawkins, Anthony D. ; Akamatsu, Tomonari ; Andre, Michel ; Branstetter, Brian K. ; Lammers, Marc O. ; Radford, Craig A. ; Stansbury, Amanda L. ; Mooney, T. Aran
    A critical concern with respect to marine animal acoustics is the issue of hearing “sensitivity,” as it is widely used as a criterion for the onset of noise-induced effects. Important aspects of research on sensitivity to sound by marine animals include: uncertainties regarding how well these species detect and respond to different sounds; the masking effects of man-made sounds on the detection of biologically important sounds; the question how internal state, motivation, context, and previous experience affect their behavioral responses; and the long-term and cumulative effects of sound exposure. If we are to better understand the sensitivity of marine animals to sound we must concentrate research on these questions. In order to assess population level and ecological community impacts new approaches can possibly be adopted from other disciplines and applied to marine fauna.
  • Book chapter
    Hearing in cetaceans : from natural history to experimental biology
    ( 2012-02) Mooney, T. Aran ; Yamato, Maya ; Branstetter, Brian K.
    Sound is the primary sensory cue for most marine mammals, and this is especially true for cetaceans. To passively and actively acquire information about their environment, cetaceans have perhaps the most derived ears of all mammals, capable of sophisticated, sensitive hearing and auditory processing. These capabilities have developed for survival in an underwater world where sound travels five times faster than in air, and where light is quickly attenuated and often limited at depth, at night, and in murky waters. Cetacean auditory evolution has capitalized on the ubiquity of sound cues and the efficiency of underwater acoustic communication. The sense of hearing is central to cetacean sensory ecology, enabling vital behaviors such as locating prey, detecting predators, identifying conspecifics, and navigating. Increasing levels of anthropogenic ocean noise appears to influence many of these activities. Here we describe the historical progress of investigations on cetacean hearing, with a particular focus on odontocetes and recent advancements. While this broad topic has been studied for several centuries, new technologies in the last two decades have been leveraged to improve our understanding of a wide range of taxa, including some of the most elusive species. This paper addresses topics including how sounds are received, what sounds are detected, hearing mechanisms for complex acoustic scenes, recent anatomy and physiology studies, the potential impacts of noise, and mysticete hearing. We conclude by identifying emerging research topics and areas which require greater focus.