Safety criteria for underwater sounds from offshore pile driving are needed to protect marine mammals. As a first step toward understanding effects of impulsive sounds, two harbor seals were exposed to octave-band white noise centered at 4 kHz at three mean received sound pressure levels (SPLs; 124, 136, and 148 dB re 1 μPa) at up to six durations (7.5, 15, 30, 60, 120, and 240 min); mean received sound exposure level (SEL) range was 166–190 dB re 1 μPa2s. Hearing thresholds were determined before and after exposure. Temporary hearing threshold shifts (TTS) and subsequent recovery were quantified as changes in hearing thresholds at 1–4, 4–8, 8–12, 48, and 96 min after noise exposure in seal 01, and at 12–16, 16–20, 20–24, 60, and 108 min after exposure in seal 02. Maximum TTS (1–4 min after 120 min exposure to 148 dB re 1 μPa; 187 dB SEL) was 10 dB. Recovery occurred within ∼60 min. Statistically significant TTSs (>2.5 dB) began to occur at SELs of ∼170 (136 SPL, 60 min) and 178 dB re 1 μPa2s (148 SPL, 15 min). However, SEL is not an optimal predictor of TTS for long duration, low SPL continuous noise, as duration and SPL play unequal roles in determining induced TTS.

1.
Blackwell
,
S. B.
,
Lawson
,
J. W.
, and
Williams
,
M. T.
(
2004
). “
Tolerance by ringed seals (Phoca hispida) to impact pipe-driving and construction sounds at an oil production island
,”
J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
115
,
2346
2357
.
2.
Carder
,
H. M.
, and
Miller
,
J. D.
(
1972
). “
Temporary threshold shifts from prolonged exposure to noise
,”
J. Speech Hear. Res.
15
,
603
623
.
3.
Finneran
,
J. J.
,
Carder
,
D. A.
,
Schlundt
,
C. E.
, and
Dear
,
R. L.
(
2010
). “
Growth and recovery of temporary threshold shift at 3 kHz in bottlenose dolphins: Experimental data and models
,”
J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
127
,
3256
3266
.
4.
Finneran
,
J. J.
,
Carder
,
D. A.
,
Schlundt
,
C. E.
, and
Ridgway
,
S. H.
(
2005
). “
Temporary threshold shift in bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) exposed to mid-frequency tones
,”
J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
116
,
2696
2705
.
5.
Finneran
,
J. J.
,
Dear
,
R.
,
Carder
,
D. A.
, and
Ridgway
,
S. H.
(
2003
). “
Auditory and behavioral responses of California sea lions (Zalophus californianus) to single underwater impulses from an arc-gap transducer
,”
J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
114
,
1667
1677
.
6.
Finneran
,
J. J.
, and
Schlundt
,
C. E.
(
2007
). “
Underwater sound pressure variation and bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) hearing thresholds in a small pool
,”
J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
122
,
606
614
.
7.
Kastak
,
D.
,
Reichmuth
,
C.
,
Holt
,
M. M.
,
Mulsow
,
J.
,
Southall
,
B. L.
, and
Schusterman
,
R. J.
(
2007
). “
Onset, growth, and recovery of in-air temporary threshold shift in a California sea lion (Zalophus californianus)
,”
J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
122
,
2916
2924
8.
Kastak
,
D.
, and
Schusterman
,
R. J.
(
1996
). “
Temporary threshold shift in a harbor seal (Phoca vitulina)
,”
J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
100
,
1905
1908
.
9.
Kastak
,
D.
,
Schusterman
,
R. J.
,
Southall
,
B. L.
, and
Reichmuth
,
C. J.
(
1999
). “
Underwater temporary threshold shift induced by octave-band noise in three species of pinniped
,”
J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
106
,
1142
1148
.
10.
Kastak
,
D.
,
Southall
,
B. L.
,
Schusterman
,
R. J.
, and
Reichmuth Kastak
,
C.
(
2005
). “
Underwater temporary threshold shift in pinnipeds: Effects of noise level and duration
,”
J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
118
,
354
3163
.
12.
Kastelein
,
R. A.
,
Hoek
,
L.
, and
de Jong
,
C. A. F.
(
2011a
). “
Hearing thresholds of a harbor porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) for sweeps (1–2 kHz and 6–7 kHz bands) mimicking naval sonar signals
,”
J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
129
,
1
8
.
13.
Kastelein
,
R. A.
,
Hoek
,
L.
, and
de Jong
,
C. A. F.
(
2011b
). “
Hearing thresholds of a harbor porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) for helicopter dipping sonar signals (1.43–1.33 kHz) (L)
,”
J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
130
,
679
682
.
35.
Kastelein
,
R. A.
,
Hoek
,
L.
,
Wensveen
,
P. J.
,
Terhune
,
J. M.
,
de Jong
,
C. A. F.
(
2010
). “
The effect of signal duration on the underwater hearing thresholds of two harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) for single tonal signals between 0.2 and 40 kHz
,”
J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
127
,
1135
1145
.
14.
Kastelein
,
R. A.
,
Wensveen
,
P. J.
,
Hoek
,
L.
, and
Terhune
,
J. M.
(
2009b
).“
Underwater detection of narrow noise bands between 0.2 and 80 kHz by harbor seals (Phoca vitulina)
,”
J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
126
,
476
483
.
15.
Kastelein
,
R. A.
,
Wensveen
,
P. J.
,
Hoek
,
L.
,
Verboom
,
W. C.
, and
Terhune
,
J. M.
(
2009a
). “
Underwater detection of tonal signals between 0.125 and 100 kHz by harbor seals (Phoca vitulina)
,”
J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
125
,
1222
1229
.
16.
Kinsler
,
L. E.
,
Frey
,
A. R.
,
Coppens
,
A. B.
, and
Sander
,
J. V.
(
2000
).
Fundamentals of Acoustics
, 4th ed. (
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
), p.
548
.
17.
Lesage
,
V.
,
Hammill
,
M. O.
, and
Kovacs
,
K. M.
(
1999
). “
Functional classification of harbor seal (Phoca vitulina) dives using depth profiles, swimming velocity, and an index of foraging success
,”
Can. J. Zool.
77
,
74
87
.
18.
Levitt
,
H.
(
1971
). “
Transformed up-down methods in psychoacoustics
,”
J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
49
,
467
477
.
19.
Lucke
,
K.
,
Siebert
,
U.
,
Lepper
,
P. A.
, and
Blanchet
,
M.
(
2009
). “
Temporary shift in masked hearing thresholds in a harbor porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) after exposure to seismic airgun stimuli
,”
J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
125
,
4060
4070
.
20.
Madsen
,
P. T.
(
2005
). “
Marine mammals and noise: Problems with root mean square sound pressure levels for transients
,”
J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
117
,
3952
3957
.
21.
Mate
,
B. R.
, and
Harvey
,
J. T.
(
1986
). “Acoustical deterrents in marine mammal conflicts with fisheries,” A workshop held February 17–18 in Newport, Oregon (Oregon Sea Grant ORESU-W-86-001).
22.
Melnick
,
W.
(
1991
). “
Human temporary threshold shifts (TTS) and damage risk
,”
J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
90
,
147
154
.
23.
Mills
,
J. H.
,
Gilbert
,
R. M.
, and
Adkins
,
W. Y.
(
1979
). “
Temporary threshold shift in humans exposed to octave bands of noise for 16 to 24 hours
,”
J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
65
,
1238
1248
.
24.
Mooney
,
T. A.
,
Nachtigall
,
P. E.
,
Breese
,
M.
,
Vlachos
,
M.
, and
Au
,
W. W. L.
(
2009
). “
Predicting temporary threshold shift in a bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus)
,”
J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
113
,
3425
3429
.
25.
Nachtigall
,
P. E.
,
Supin
,
A. Ya
,
Pawloski
,
J.
, and
Au
,
W. W. L.
(
2004
). “
Temporary threshold shifts after noise exposure in the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) measured using evoked auditory potentials
,”
Marine Mammal Sci.
20
,
673
687
.
26.
NRC (National Research Council) (
2003
).
Ocean Noise and Marine Mammals
(
National Academic
,
Washington, DC
), pp.
1
192
.
27.
Robinson
,
D. E.
, and
Watson
,
C. S.
(
1973
). “
Psychophysical methods in modern psychoacoustics
,” in
Foundations of Modern Auditory Theory
, edited by
J. V.
Tobias
(
Academic
,
New York
), Vol.
2
, pp.
99
131
.
28.
Ross
,
D.
(
1976
).
Mechanics of Underwater Noise
(
Pergamon
,
New York
), p.
375
.
29.
Southall
,
B. L.
,
Bowles
,
A. E.
,
Ellison
,
W. T.
,
Finneran
,
J. J.
,
Gentry
,
R. L.
,
Greene
,
C. R.
, Jr.
,
Kastak
,
D.
,
Ketten
,
D. R.
,
Miller
,
J. H.
,
Nachtigall
,
P. E.
,
Richardson
,
W. J.
,
Thomas
,
J. A.
, and
Tyack
,
P. T.
(
2007
). “
Marine mammal noise criteria: Initial scientific recommendations
,”
Aquat. Mamm.
33
,
411
521
.
30.
Suryan
,
R. M.
, and
J. T.
Harvey
(
1998
). “
Tracking harbor seals (Phoca vitulina richardsi) to determine dive behavior, foraging activity, and haul-out site use
,”
Marine Mammal Sci.
14
,
361
372
.
31.
Terhune
,
J. M.
(
1991
). “
Masked and unmasked pure tone detection thresholds of a harbor seal listening in air
,”
Can. J. Zool.
69
,
2059
2066
.
32.
Turnbull
,
S. D.
, and
Terhune
,
J. M.
(
1990
). “
White noise and pure tone masking of pure tone thresholds of a harbour seal listening in air and underwater
,”
Can. J. Zool.
68
,
2090
2097
.
33.
Yost
,
W. A.
(
2007
).
Fundamentals of Hearing: An Introduction
(
Academic
,
New York
), pp.
1
338
.
34.
Zar
,
J. H.
(
1999
).
Biostatistical Analysis
(
Prentice-Hall
,
Upper Saddle River, NJ
), pp.
1
718
.
You do not currently have access to this content.