Abstract
Aerial hearing sensitivity was measured in pinnipeds in a sound attenuating, hemi-anechoic chamber. Thresholds at 12 frequencies between 0.1 and 32.5 kHz were obtained behaviorally for three individuals (a California sea lion, a harbor seal, and a northern elephant seal) and compared to thresholds obtained using headphones in less controlled testing environments. The thresholds measured in the chamber revealed the expected relative changes in sensitivity with frequency; however, the absolute sensitivities were much better than had been previously measured. Harbor seal thresholds were on average 25 dB lower with best sensitivity of −2 dB (re: 20 μPa) at 3.2 kHz. Elephant seal thresholds averaged 23 dB lower with best sensitivity of 27 dB (re: 20 μPa) at 0.4 kHz. Thresholds for the California sea lion were also much lower than expected, with best sensitivity of 1 dB (re: 20 μPa) at 12 kHz. The thresholds measured for the sea lion and harbor seal rival those of human subjects at some frequencies, and suggest that previously reported aerial hearing thresholds in pinnipeds wwere significantly noise limited. Further, the results indicate that these pinnipeds have greater sensitivity in air than in water when comparisons are made in terms of sound pressure.
Published Version
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