Publication Date:
2022-05-25
Description:
Author Posting. © Royal Society, 2009. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Royal Society for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Biology Letters 5 (2009): 565-567, doi:10.1098/rsbl.2009.0099.
Description:
There is increasing concern that human-produced ocean noise is adversely affecting marine mammals, as several recent cetacean mass strandings may have been caused by animals’ interactions with naval “mid-frequency” sonar. However, it has yet to be empirically demonstrated how sonar could induce these strandings or cause physiological effects. In controlled experimental studies, we show that mid-frequency sonar can induce temporary hearing loss in a bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus). Mild behavioural alterations were also associated with the exposures. The auditory effects were only induced by repeated exposures to intense sonar pings with total sound exposure levels of 214 dB re: 1 μPa2∙s. Data support an increasing energy model to predict temporary noise-induced hearing loss and indicate that odontocete noise exposure effects bear trends similar to terrestrial mammals. Thus, sonar can induce physiological and behavioural effects in at least one species of odontocete; however, exposures must be of prolonged, high sound exposures levels to generate these effects.
Description:
Work was funded by the Office of Naval Research (Robert Gisiner and Mardi
Hastings) to P.E.N. and SEAPACE (T.A.M.).
Keywords:
Auditory
;
Marine mammal
;
Noise
;
Stranding
;
Navy
;
Threshold shift
Repository Name:
Woods Hole Open Access Server
Type:
Preprint
Format:
application/pdf
