Can baleen whales be safely live-captured for studies of their physiology?

Studying baleen whales is challenging and complex, where observation of their habitat, sensory modalities, behavior and physiology, are infrequent and brief. The biochemical and biophysical contribution of mysticetes serve a vital role in maintaining a healthy marine ecosystem, but they are facing anthropogenic threats. Before giving any indications of how these threats affect the baleen whales, it is essential to gain more knowledge of their sensory physiology, migration patterns, and energy expenditure. Previous research on mysticetes has been based on post-mortem investigation, modeling, behavioral analyses, and tagging which are advancing with time. However, some of these studies may need validation, which could be conducted with a mysticete live-capture methodology. This thesis describes an approach on how to possibly live-capture baleen whales to enable safe studies of their physiology. Therefore, my objectives aimed to 1) assess the methodology of live-capturing and restraining baleen whales by reviewing and evaluating documented attempts and those gained in own fieldwork, 2) discuss what sensory modalities baleen whales may use to navigate around nets in such settings. Furthermore, 3) I have reviewed potential studies that could be conducted on a restrained mysticete, and lastly 4) I discuss animal welfare considerations of mysticete live-capture and experimental studies. A large entrapment was created in Vestfjord, Norway, June 2021. Attempts were made to measure the distance of the baleen whales from the various nets that were designed to be better detected by different sensory methods, including recording hydrophones placed in the entrapment. These results did not give enough statistical power for concluding what sensory apparatus the cetaceans may use in detecting the entrapment set-up. We did succeed in leading baleen whales in between islets and trap them there with nets, but were unable to restrain any of them for direct measurements. The 4-year ongoing SOST minke hearing project has potential to succeed though, and may thereby represent a key to a more detailed insight into the physiology of these huge but vulnerable creatures

Head movement and its relation to hearing

Head position at any point in time plays a fundamental role in shaping the auditory information that reaches a listener, information that continuously changes as the head moves and reorients to different listening situations. The connection between hearing science and the kinesthetics of head movement has gained interest due to technological advances that have increased the feasibility of providing behavioral and biological feedback to assistive listening devices that can interpret movement patterns that reflect listening intent. Increasing evidence also shows that the negative impact of hearing deficits on mobility, gait, and balance may be mitigated by prosthetic hearing device intervention. Better understanding of the relationships between head movement, full body kinetics, and hearing health, should lead to improved signal processing strategies across a range of assistive and augmented hearing devices. The purpose of this review is to introduce the wider hearing community to the kinesiology of head movement and to place it in the context of hearing and communication with the goal of expanding the field of ecologically-specific listener behavior

Electrophysiologic assessment of (central) auditory processing disorder in children with non-syndromic cleft lip and/or palate

Session 5aPP - Psychological and Physiological Acoustics: Auditory Function, Mechanisms, and Models (Poster Session)Cleft of the lip and/or palate is a common congenital craniofacial malformation worldwide, particularly non-syndromic cleft lip and/or palate (NSCL/P). Though middle ear deficits in this population have been universally noted in numerous studies, other auditory problems including inner ear deficits or cortical dysfunction are rarely reported. A higher prevalence of educational problems has been noted in children with NSCL/P compared to craniofacially normal children. These high level cognitive difficulties cannot be entirely attributed to peripheral hearing loss. Recently it has been suggested that children with NSCLP may be more prone to abnormalities in the auditory cortex. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether school age children with (NSCL/P) have a higher prevalence of indications of (central) auditory processing disorder [(C)APD] compared to normal age matched controls when assessed using auditory event-related potential (ERP) techniques. School children (6 to 15 years) with NSCL/P and normal controls with matched age and gender were recruited. Auditory ERP recordings included auditory brainstem response and late event-related potentials, including the P1-N1-P2 complex and P300 waveforms. Initial findings from the present study are presented and their implications for further research in this area —and clinical intervention—are outlined. © 2012 Acoustical Society of Americapublished_or_final_versio