Harms Continues Minke Whale Hearing Research in Norway
A multinational US, Norwegian and Danish research team successfully completed a fourth field season measuring hearing in minke whales in Arctic Norway in the Lofoten Islands. Dr. Craig Harms from NC State took part as one of the team’s two veterinarians. Two whales were safely captured, tested, tagged and released, greatly expanding knowledge of baleen whale hearing capability. Hearing of baleen whales had not been directly tested prior to this groundbreaking project. A major finding was that minke whales can hear at a considerably higher frequency than what was predicted based on behavioral responses, vocalization, and anatomical modeling studies. Lead organizations on the project were the National Marine Mammal Foundation (NMMF) and the Norwegian Defense Research Establishment (FFI), with funding from the Office of Naval Research, US Navy Living Marine Resources, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the US Marine Mammal Commission. Findings are forthcoming.
Learn more about the minke whale hearing project at: https://www.nmmf.org/our-work/biologic-bioacoustic-research/minke-whale-hearing/ and here:
