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Seal whiskers detect water movements

Nature volume 394, pages 235–236 (1998)Cite this article

Abstract

How do pinnipeds orientate themselves under water? As most pinniped species feed in conditions under which visibility is drastically reduced, for example at night, at great depths or in murky waters, it has been particularly unclear how they succeed in finding food. Here we show that harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) can use their whiskers to detect minute water movements. The high sensitivity of this sensory system should allow a seal to gain hydrodynamic information resulting from movements of other aquatic animals, such as prey, predators or conspecifics.

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Figure 1: Detection of water movements by the harbour seal.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Bonn, Institute of Zoology, Poppelsdorfer Schloss, D-53115, Bonn, Germany

    Guido Dehnhardt, Björn Mauck & Horst Bleckmann

Authors
  1. Guido Dehnhardt
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  2. Björn Mauck
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  3. Horst Bleckmann
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Dehnhardt, G., Mauck, B. & Bleckmann, H. Seal whiskers detect water movements. Nature 394, 235–236 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1038/28303

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