Killer whale (Orcinus orca) audiograms were measured using behavioral responses and auditory evoked potentials (AEPs) from two trained adult females. The mean auditory brainstem response (ABR) audiogram to tones between 1 and 100 kHz was 12 dB (re 1 μ Pa) less sensitive than behavioral audiograms from the same individuals (±8 dB). The ABR and behavioral audiogram curves had shapes that were generally consistent and had the best threshold agreement (5 dB) in the most sensitive range 18–42 kHz, and the least (22 dB) at higher frequencies 60–100 kHz. The most sensitive frequency in the mean Orcinus audiogram was 20 kHz (36 dB), a frequency lower than many other odontocetes, but one that matches peak spectral energy reported for wild killer whale echolocation clicks. A previously reported audiogram of a male Orcinus had greatest sensitivity in this range (15 kHz, ∼35 dB). Both whales reliably responded to 100-kHz tones (95 dB), and one whale to a 120-kHz tone, a variation from an earlier reported high-frequency limit of 32 kHz for a male Orcinus. Despite smaller amplitude ABRs than smaller delphinids, the results demonstrated that ABR audiometry can provide a useful suprathreshold estimate of hearing range in toothed whales.
REFERENCES
1.
Anderson, S. (1970). “Auditory sensitivity of the harbor porpoise (Phocoena phocoena),” in Investigations on Cetacea, edited by G. Pilleri (Bentili, AG Berne Bumpliz, Berne, Switzerland), Vol. 2, pp. 255–259.
2.
Au, W. W. L. (1993). The Sonar of Dolphins (Springer Verlag, New York).
3.
Au
, W. W. L.
, and Moore
, P. W. B.
(1984
). “Receiving beam patterns and directivity indices of the Atlantic bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatus
,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
75
, 255
–262
. 4.
Awbrey
, R. T.
, Thomas
, J. A.
, Evans
, W. E.
, and Leatherwood
, S.
(1982
). “Ross Sea killer whale vocalizations: Preliminary description and comparison with those of some Northern Hemisphere killer whales
,” Rep. Int. Whal. Comm.
32
, 667
–670
. 5.
Awbrey
, F. T.
, Thomas
, J. A.
, and Kastelein
, R. A.
(1988
). “Low frequency underwater hearing sensitivity in belugas (Delphinapterus leucas)
,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
84
, 2273
–2275
. 6.
Bain, D. E., and Dalheim, M. E. (1994). “Effects of masking noise on detection thresholds of killer whales,” in Consequences of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill, edited by T. Loughlin (Academic, New York), pp. 243–256.
7.
Bain, D. E. (1992). “Hearing abilities of killer whales (Orcinus orca),” National Marine Mammal Laboratory Contract Report #43ABNF00249 and #43ABNF002500, pp. 1–20.
8.
Barrett-Lennard
, L. G.
, Ford
, J. K. B.
, and Heise
, K. A.
(1996
). “The mixed blessing of echolocation differences in sonar use by fish-eating and mammal-eating killer whales
,” Anim. Behav.
51
, 553
–565
. 9.
Belkovich
, V. M.
, and Solntseva
, G. N.
(1970
). “Anatomy and function of the ear in dolphins
,” J. Comparative Zoo.
2
, 275
–282
. 10.
Bibikov, N. G. (1992). “Auditory brainstem responses in the harbor porpoise (Phocoena phocoena),'' in Marine Mammal Sensory Systems, edited by J. Thomas, R. A. Kastelein, and A. Ya. Supin (Plenum, New York), pp. 197–211.
11.
Bohne
, B.
, Thomas
, J.
, Yohe
, E.
, and Stone
, S.
(1985
). “Examination of potential hearing damage in Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddelli) in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica
,” Antarctic J. U.S.
20
, 174
–176
. 12.
Brill
, R. L.
, Sevenich
, M. L.
, Sullivan
, T. J.
, Sustmen
, J. D.
, and Witt
, R. E.
(1988
). “Behavioral evidence for hearing through the lower jaw by an echolocating dolphin (Tursiops truncatus)
,” Mar. Mam. Sci.
4
, 223
–230
. 13.
Bullock
, T. H.
, Grinnell
, A. D.
, Ikezono
, E.
, Kameda
, K.
, Katsuki
, Y.
, Nomoto
, M.
, Sato
, O.
, Suga
, N.
, and Yanagisawa
, K.
(1968
). “Electrophysiological studies of central auditory mechanisms in cetaceans
,” J. Comp. Physiol.
59
, 117
–156
. 14.
Bullock
, T. H.
, and Ridgway
, S. H.
(1972
). “Evoked potentials in the central auditory system of alert porpoises to their own and artificial sounds
,” J. Neurobiol.
3
, 79
–99
. 15.
Carder
, D. A.
, and Ridgway
, S. H.
(1991
). “Auditory brainstem response in a neonatal sperm whale, Physeter spp.
,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am. Suppl. 1
88
, S4
. 16.
Dalheim
, M. E.
, and Awbrey
, F.
(1982
). “A classification and comparison of vocalizations of captive killer whales
,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
72
, 661
–670
. 17.
Diercks
, K. J.
, Trochta
, R. T.
, Greenlaw
, C. F.
, and Evans
, W. E.
(1971
). “Recording and analysis of dolphin echolocation signals
,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
49
, 1729
–1732
. 18.
Dolphin, W. F. (1995a). “The envelope following response in three species of cetaceans,” in Sensory Systems of Aquatic Mammals, edited by R. A. Kastelein, J. A. Thomas, and P. E. Nachtigall (De Spil, Woerden, The Netherlands), pp. 197–211.
19.
Dolphin
, W. F.
, Au
, W. W. L.
, and Nachtigall
, P.
(1995b
). “Modulation transfer function to low-frequency carriers in three species of cetaceans
,” J. Comp. Physiol. A
177
, 235
–295
. 20.
Dubrovsky
, N. A.
, Krasnov
, P. S.
, and Titov
, A. A.
(1971
). “On the emission of echolocation signals by the Azov harbor porpoise
,” Sov. Phys. Acoust.
16
, 444
–447
. 21.
Elberling
, C.
, and Don
, M.
(1987
). “Threshold characteristics of the human auditory brain stem response
,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
81
, 115
–121
. 22.
Ford
, J. K. B.
(1989
). “Acoustic behavior of resident killer whales (orcinus orca) off Vancouver Island, British Columbia
,” Can. J. Zoo.
67
, 727
–745
. 23.
Gorga
, M. P.
, Kaminski
, J. R.
, Beauchaine
, K. A.
, and Jesteadt
, W.
(1988
). “Auditory brainstem responses to tone bursts in normally hearing subjects
,” J. Speech Hear. Res.
31
, 87
–97
. 24.
Hall
, J. D.
, and Johnson
, C. S.
(1972
). “Auditory thresholds of a killer whale Orcinus orca Linneaus
,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
51
, 515
–517
. 25.
Heffner
, R. S.
, and Heffner
, H. E.
(1982
). “Hearing in the elephant (Elphas Maximus): Absolute sensitivity, frequency discrimination, and sound localization
,” J. Comp. Physiol. Psychol.
96
, 926
–944
. 26.
Jacobs
, D. W.
, and Hall
, J. D.
(1972
). “Auditory thresholds of a fresh water dolphin, Inia geoffrensis Blainville
,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
51
, 530
–533
. 27.
Johnson
, C. S.
(1968
). “Relation between absolute threshold and duration-of-tone pulses in the bottlenosed porpoise
,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
43
, 757
–763
. 28.
Johnson, C. S. (1967). “Sound detection thresholds in marine mammals,” in Marine Bio-Acoustics, edited by W. N. Tavolga (Pergamon, New York), Vol. 2, pp. 247–260.
29.
Kamminga
, C. A.
, and Beitsma
, G. R.
(1990
). “Investigations on cetacean sonar IX: Remarks on dominant sonar frequencies from Tursiops truncatus
,” Aquat. Mam.
16
, 14
–20
. 30.
Ketten
, D.
, Lien
, J.
, and Todd
, S.
(1993
). “Blast injury in humpback whale ears: Evidence and implications,” Invited paper
, J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
94
, 1849
–1850
. 31.
Ketten
, D.
, Moore
, P. W. B.
, Dankiewicz
, L. A.
, Brill
, R. A.
, and Van Bonn
, W.
(1998
). “The slippery slope of a Johnsonian ear: Natural variability versus natural loss
,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
102
, 32.
Ladygina
, T. F.
, and Supin
A. Ya.
(1970
). “The acoustic projection in the dolphin cerebral cortex
,” Fiz. Zh. SSSR
56
, 1554
–1560
. 33.
Moore
, P. W. B.
, Hall
, R. W.
, Friedl
, W. A.
, and Nachtigall
, P. E.
(1984
). “The critical interval in dolphin echolocation: What is it?
” J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
76
, 314
–417
. 34.
Popov
, V. V.
, and Supin
, A. Ya.
(1985
). “Determination of characteristics of dolphin hearing using brain stem evoked potentials
,” Dokl. Akad. Nauk SSSR
283
, 496
–499
. 35.
Popov
, V. V.
, and Supin
, A. Ya.
(1990a
). “Auditory brain stem responses in characterization of dolphin hearing
,” J. Comp. Physiol. A
166
, 385
–393
. 36.
Popov, V. V., and Supin, A. Ya. (1990b). “Electrophysiological studies of hearing in some cetaceans and manatee,” in Sensory Abilities of Cetaceans, edited by J. A. Thomas and R. A. Kastelein (Plenum, New York), pp. 405–415.
37.
Richardson, W. J., Greene, C. R., Jr., Malme, C. I., and Thomson, D. H. (1991). “Effects of noise on marine mammals,” USDI/MMA/OCS study 90-0093, LGL Ecological Research Assoc., Bryan, Texas.
38.
Richardson, W. J., Greene, C. R., Jr., Malme, C. I., and Thomson, D. H. (1995). Effects of Noise on Marine Mammals (Academic, San Diego), pp. 576.
39.
Ridgway
, S. H.
, and Brownson
, R. H.
(1984
). “Relative brain sizes and cortical surface areas in odontocetes
,” J. Comparative Bio.
172
, 149
–152
. 40.
Ridgway
, S. H.
, Bullock
, T. H.
, Carder
, D. A.
, Seeley
, R. L.
, Woods
, D.
, and Galambos
, R.
(1981
). “Auditory brainstem response in dolphins
,” Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA
78
, 1943
–1947
. 41.
Ridgway
, S. H.
, and Carder
, D. A.
(1993
). “High-frequency hearing loss in old (25+ years old) male dolphins
,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
94
, 1830
. 42.
Ridgway
, S. H.
, and Carder
, D. A.
(1997
). “Hearing deficits measured in some Tursiops truncatus, and discovery of a deaf/mute dolphin
,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
101
, 590
–594
. 43.
Sauerland
, M.
, and Dehnhardt
, G.
(1998
). “Underwater audiogram of a tucuxi (Sotalia fluviatilis guianensis)
,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
103
, 1199
–1204
. 44.
Szymanski, M. D., Bain, D. E., and Henry, K. R. (1995a). “Auditory evoked potentials of a killer whale (Orcinus orca),” in Sensory Systems of Aquatic Mammals, edited by R. A. Kastelein, J. A. Thomas, and P. E. Nachtigall (De Spil, Woerden, The Netherlands), pp. 1–10.
45.
Szymanski, M. D., Supin, A. Ya, Henry, K. R., and Bain, D. E. (1995b). “The killer whale (Orcinus orca) auditory system assessed with evoked potentials: Click rates and audiograms,” The 11th Biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals, Soc. Mar. Mam. Abstracts.
46.
Szymanski
, M. D.
, Supin
, A. Ya.
, Bain
, D. E.
, and Henry
, K. R.
(1998
). “Killer whale auditory evoked potentials to rhythmic clicks
,” Mar. Mam. Sci.
14
(4
), 676
–691
. 47.
Thomas
, J.
, Chun
, N.
, Au
, W.
, and Pugh
, K.
(1988
). “Underwater audiogram of a false killer whale (Pseudorca crassidens)
,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
84
, 936
–940
. 48.
Tremmel
, D. P.
, Thomas
, J. A.
, Ramirez
, K. T.
, Dye
, G. S.
, Bachman
, W. A.
, Orban
, A. N.
, and Grim
, K. K.
(1998
). “Underwater hearing sensitivity of a Pacific white-sided dolphin Lagenorhynchus obliquidens
,” Aquat. Mam.
24
, 63
–69
. 49.
White, M. J., Jr, Norris, J., Ljungblad, D., Baron, K., and di Sciara, G. (1978). “Auditory thresholds of two beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas),” in HSWRI Tech. Rep. No. 78-109, Hubbs Marine Research Institute, San Diego, CA.
This content is only available via PDF.
© 1999 Acoustical Society of America.
1999
Acoustical Society of America
You do not currently have access to this content.