Investigating bone-conduction as a pathway for mysticete hearing
Abstract
Our proposed investigation requires two interdependent experiments that address a single research subtopic within the need topic. These two experiments must be carried out in sequence. The experiments will attempt to confirm that bone conduction is a valid pathway for hearing in baleen whales, as reported by our previous work on this subject. Furthermore, our models of sound reception by mysticetes will be tested for validation. Both experiments will be conducted, and then compared to results from our custom-built finite element software. Both experiments will make use of the same specially prepared and instrumented postmortem neonate California gray whale skull, provided by the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. These two experiments leverage our current ONR project (N00014-18-1-2797) because they make use of the same gray whale specimen, provided by the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (LACM). The whale s skull will be specially prepared so as to maintain ligaments between skull elements. Experiment #1 will incorporate excitation of the whale skull in small tank using various vibrating sources that are attached to the skull and/or project sound at the skull. This small tank setup will also be used to pretest methods used for Experiment #2, the validation tests at the US Navy TRANSDEC facility.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Aug 20, 2019
- Source ID
- N000141912682
Entities
People
- Ted Cranford
Organizations
- Office of Naval Research
- Salk Institute for Biological Studies
- United States Navy