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Temporary hearing threshold shift in harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) due to a one-sixth-octave noise band centered at

Ronald A Kastelein1, Lean Helder-Hoek1, Suzanne A Cornelisse1

  • 1Sea Mammal Research Company (SEAMARCO), Julianalaan 46, 3843 CC Harderwijk, the Netherlands.

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
|April 3, 2020
PubMed

Two female harbor seals were exposed for 60 min to a continuous one-sixth-octave noise band centered at 32 kHz at sound pressure levels of 92 to 152 dB re 1 μPa, resulting in sound exposure levels (SELs) of 128 to 188 dB re 1 μPa2s. This was part of a larger project determining frequency-dependent susceptibility to temporary threshold shift (TTS) in harbor seals over their entire hearing range. After exposure, TTSs were quantified at 32, 45, and 63 kHz with a psychoacoustic technique. At 32 kHz, only small TTSs (up to 5.9 dB) were measured 1-4 min (TTS1-4) after exposure, and recovery was within 1 h. The higher the SEL, the higher the TTS induced at 45 kHz. Below ∼176 dB re 1 μPa2s, the maximum TTS1-4 was at 32 kHz; above ∼176 dB re 1 μPa2s, the maximum TTS1-4 (up to 33.8 dB) was at 45 kHz. During one particular session, a seal was inadvertently exposed to an SEL of ∼191 dB re 1 μPa2s and at 45 kHz, her TTS1-4 was >45 dB; her hearing recovered over 4 days. Harbor seals appear to be equally susceptible to TTS caused by sounds in the 2.5-32 kHz range.

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