Temporary hearing threshold shift in harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) due to one-sixth-octave noise bands centered at 0.5, 1, and 2 kHz.

Abstract

This study concludes a larger project on the frequency-dependent susceptibility to noise-induced temporary hearing threshold shift (TTS) in harbor seals (Phoca vitulina). Here, two seals were exposed to one-sixth-octave noise bands (NBs) centered at 0.5, 1, and 2 kHz at several sound exposure levels (SELs, in dB re 1 μPa2s). TTSs were quantified at the center frequency of each NB, half an octave above, and one octave above, at the earliest within 1-4 min after exposure. Generally, elicited TTSs were low, and the highest TTS1-4 occurred at half an octave above the center frequency of the fatiguing sound: after exposure to the 0.5-kHz NB at 210 dB SEL, the TTS1-4 at 0.71 kHz was 2.3 dB; after exposure to the 1-kHz NB at 207 dB SEL, the TTS1-4 at 1.4 kHz was 6.1 dB; and after exposure to the 2-kHz NB at 215 dB SEL, TTS1-4 at 2.8 kHz was 7.9 dB. Hearing always recovered within 60 min, and susceptibility to TTS was similar in both seals. The results show that, for the studied frequency range, the lower the center frequency of the fatiguing sound, the higher the SEL required to cause the same TTS.