Image

Hearing Tests on Wild Whales

August 22, 2018

The first hearing tests on a wild population of healthy marine mammals revealed that beluga whales in Bristol Bay, AK, have sensitive hearing abilities and far less extensive hearing losses than scientists anticipated. At a time when noise in the ocean is increasing from human activities, understanding the natural hearing abilities of whales and other endangered marine mammals is crucial to assessing potential noise impacts on animals, says WHOI biologist Aran Mooney, who led the auditory testing. Researchers also gave the animals physical exams to assess their overall health, and obtained skin, breath, and blood samples. Satellite transmitters were attached to some of the whales before release to study the whales’ movements. All work conducted under NMFS permit no. 14245. (Photo by Aran Mooney, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)