Sørensen K, Neumann C, Dähne M, Hansen K A, Wahlberg M
Department of Biology, University of Southern Denmark, Campusvej 55, 5230 Odense M, Denmark.
German Oceanographic Museum Foundation, Katharinenberg 14-20, 18439 Stralsund, Germany.
R Soc Open Sci. 2020 Feb 26;7(2):191988. doi: 10.1098/rsos.191988. eCollection 2020 Feb.
Marine mammals and diving birds face several physiological challenges under water, affecting their thermoregulation and locomotion as well as their sensory systems. Therefore, marine mammals have modified ears for improved underwater hearing. Underwater hearing in birds has been studied in a few species, but for the record-holding divers, such as penguins, there are no detailed data. We played underwater noise bursts to gentoo penguins () in a large tank at received sound pressure levels between 100 and 120 dB re 1 µPa RMS. The penguins showed a graded reaction to the noise bursts, ranging from no reactions at 100 dB to strong reactions in more than 60% of the playbacks at 120 dB re 1 µPa. The responses were always directed away from the sound source. The fact that penguins can detect and react to underwater stimuli may indicate that they make use of sound stimuli for orientation and prey detection during dives. Further, it suggests that penguins may be sensitive to anthropogenic noise, like many species of marine mammals.
海洋哺乳动物和潜水鸟类在水下面临着多种生理挑战，这些挑战会影响它们的体温调节、运动能力以及感官系统。因此，海洋哺乳动物已经进化出经过改良的耳朵，以改善水下听力。鸟类的水下听力在少数物种中得到了研究，但对于像企鹅这样创纪录的潜水者来说，尚无详细数据。我们在一个大水箱中，以100至120分贝（相对于1微帕均方根声压）的接收声压水平，向巴布亚企鹅播放水下噪声脉冲。企鹅对噪声脉冲表现出分级反应，从100分贝时无反应，到120分贝（相对于1微帕）时超过60%的回放中有强烈反应。这些反应总是指向远离声源的方向。企鹅能够探测水下刺激并做出反应，这一事实可能表明它们在潜水过程中利用声音刺激进行定向和猎物探测。此外，这表明企鹅可能像许多海洋哺乳动物物种一样，对人为噪声敏感。
