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Stralsund (dpa) - According to experts, penguins react sensitively to noises above and below water.
The result is a research project with the participation of the German Oceanographic Museum in Stralsund.
Humboldt penguins, for example, are just as sensitive to certain frequencies in the air as humans, explained project manager Michael Dähne.
Some of the results are to be published for the first time at a conference at the end of April.
In the project, scientists examined the hearing ability of penguins on land and under water and analyzed the hearing organs using computer scans of penguin skulls from the collection of the Natural History Museum Berlin.
In some cases, animals were extensively trained for behavioral tests: In Stralsund, for example, four Humboldt penguins were taught to stand still in a soundproof box and to touch a certain surface with their beak when they heard a sound.
“In the project, we have demonstrated that penguins react to sound underwater,” says bioacoustics specialist Dähne.
However, the investigations into the hearing threshold under water had not made as much progress as intended.
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For the first time, data on the hearing ability of the animals were determined using standardized methods, said Mirjam Müller from the "Protection of the Polar Regions" department at the Federal Environment Agency.
"We are thus a big step further in order to be able to assess the exposure to noise for penguins."
It is about shipping or scientific devices that use sound.
The Federal Environment Agency is responsible for approving all activities in the Antarctic that originate in Germany.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210420-99-272061 / 2
Communication from UBA
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Maritime Museum on the project
Hackaton on underwater sounds