Measuring hearing in wild beluga whales
Date
2016Metadata
Show full item recordCitable URI
https://hdl.handle.net/1912/8108As published
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2981-8_88Keyword
Anthropogenic noise; Sensory; Marine mammal; Cetacean; Odontocete; ArcticAbstract
We measured the hearing abilities of seven wild beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas)
during a collection-and-release experiment in Bristol Bay, AK, USA. Here we summarize the
methods and initial data from one animal, discussing the implications of this experiment.
Audiograms were collected from 4-150 kHz. The animal with the lowest threshold heard best
at 80 kHz and demonstrated overall good hearing from 22-110 kHz. The robustness of the
methodology and data suggest AEP audiograms can be incorporated into future collection-and-release health assessments. Such methods may provide high-quality results for multiple
animals facilitating population-level audiograms and hearing measures in new species.
Description
Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2016. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Springer for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in "The Effects of Noise on Aquatic Life II," edited by Arthur N. Popper, Anthony Hawkins, 729-735. New York, NY: Springer, 2016. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4939-2981-8_88.