From lab to field: Hearing and terrestrial communication in the endangered Hawaiian monk seal
Bibliographic record
Abstract
The acoustic biology of Hawaiian monk seals (Neomonachus schauinslandi) is compelling from behavioral, evolutionary, and conservation perspectives. Until recently, descriptions of species-typical hearing abilities and vocal behavior were limited. Our research has sought to provide key amphibious bioacoustic data for this endangered species. To evaluate hearing in air and under water, we measured detection thresholds for narrowband tones with two individuals. The resulting audiograms indicate reduced hearing abilities relative to other seal species, with an especially notable insensitivity to airborne sounds. This suggests that terrestrial communication in Hawaiian monk seals is likely constrained by poor hearing. To explore this further, we estimated communication ranges for airborne vocalizations. We recorded spontaneous calls from free-ranging seals on an isolated beach to determine amplitude and spectral characteristics of vocalizations. When these data were combined with hearing thresholds and representative ambient noise levels, the resulting estimates suggested that terrestrial communication ranges are restricted to <100 m for female seals and their dependent pups. These findings update evolutionary considerations about hearing in seals and inform decision-making regarding anthropogenic noise exposures, supporting conservation efforts for Hawaiian monk seals.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.001 | 0.000 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.000 | 0.001 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Open science | 0.000 | 0.001 |
| Research integrity | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.002 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".