Application of tonal audiometry methods to assess the hearing of grey seals in air and water environments

Abstract

Anthropogenic noise load on the traditional habitats of marine mammals continues to increase due to the active development of the Arctic zone. The study of the hearing of Arctic seals is of great importance for the development of measures to reduce the impact of technogenic noise. During the study, a group of ten grey seals of different ages and genders has been trained to press a special key when demonstrating a pure tone sound with a frequency from the standard and extended set of frequencies recommended for pure tone audiometry. The experiments have been carried out by placing the key and the sound source in air and water (at a depth of 2 m) environment. The main indicator is the reaction time of the seal to the demonstrated stimulus. For each seal, individual audiograms for hearing in air and in water have been compiled using 32 frequencies. An analysis of the data obtained has shown that the reaction time can serve as an individual indicator in the study of the hearing of grey seals reflecting their age characteristics. According to the response time to sounds with different tone frequencies it is possible to establish biologically significant and indifferent frequencies for grey seals.