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 . 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 (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.
Skip Nav Destination
Article navigation
October 2012
October 03 2012
Hearing threshold shifts and recovery in harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) after octave-band noise exposure at 4 kHz
Ronald A. Kastelein;
Ronald A. Kastelein
a)
Sea Mammal Research Company (SEAMARCO)
, Julianalaan 46, 3843 CC Harderwijk, The Netherlands
Search for other works by this author on:
Robin Gransier;
Robin Gransier
Sea Mammal Research Company (SEAMARCO)
, Julianalaan 46, 3843 CC Harderwijk, The Netherlands
Search for other works by this author on:
Lean Hoek;
Lean Hoek
Sea Mammal Research Company (SEAMARCO)
, Julianalaan 46, 3843 CC Harderwijk, The Netherlands
Search for other works by this author on:
Amy Macleod;
Amy Macleod
Sea Mammal Research Company (SEAMARCO)
, Julianalaan 46, 3843 CC Harderwijk, The Netherlands
Search for other works by this author on:
John M. Terhune
John M. Terhune
Department of Biology,
The University of New Brunswick
, P.O. Box 5050, Saint John, New Brunswick, E2L 4L5, Canada
Search for other works by this author on:
a)
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. Electronic mail: [email protected]
J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 132, 2745–2761 (2012)
Article history
Received:
March 16 2012
Accepted:
July 31 2012
Citation
Ronald A. Kastelein, Robin Gransier, Lean Hoek, Amy Macleod, John M. Terhune; Hearing threshold shifts and recovery in harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) after octave-band noise exposure at 4 kHz. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 1 October 2012; 132 (4): 2745–2761. https://doi.org/10.1121/1.4747013
Download citation file:
Pay-Per-View Access
$40.00
Sign In
You could not be signed in. Please check your credentials and make sure you have an active account and try again.
Citing articles via
All we know about anechoic chambers
Michael Vorländer
A survey of sound source localization with deep learning methods
Pierre-Amaury Grumiaux, Srđan Kitić, et al.
Does sound symbolism need sound?: The role of articulatory movement in detecting iconicity between sound and meaning
Mutsumi Imai, Sotaro Kita, et al.
Related Content
Temporary hearing threshold shift in harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) due to one-sixth-octave noise bands centered at 0.5, 1, and 2 kHz
J. Acoust. Soc. Am. (December 2020)
Effect of pile-driving sounds on harbor seal (Phoca vitulina) hearing
J. Acoust. Soc. Am. (June 2018)
Measuring hearing in the harbor seal (Phoca vitulina): Comparison of behavioral and auditory brainstem response techniques
J Acoust Soc Am (January 2003)
Underwater auditory localization by a swimming harbor seal (Phoca vitulina)
J. Acoust. Soc. Am. (September 2006)
Masking in three pinnipeds: Underwater, low-frequency critical ratios
J Acoust Soc Am (September 2000)