Humans Hear Much Better Underwater Than Previously Thought – At Times Better Than Seals:
All mammals lived on land millions of years ago, but eventually, certain species abandoned the land and adapted to life in the sea: take seals and whales, which both can now live underwater.
The remainder of the species that persisted on land has similarly adapted to a life on land. That is why it shouldn't be a surprise that a group of experts came to the conclusion that people today hear better on land than under water in a recent study. However, the research also offers unexpected information on human hearing.
[...] "It is 26 dB lower than hypothesized in previous studies, so we must conclude that humans hear significantly better under water than previously reported by science. In fact, the threshold at 500 Hz is in line with how well animals such as cormorants and seals hear underwater," says Jakob Christensen-Dalsgaard.
[...] "You should not expect to be able to jump into the sea and orient yourself perfectly using only your sense of hearing," says Jakob Christensen-Dalsgaard, "Sense of hearing is not just about being able to pick up a sound. It is also about determining the direction of the sound — and this is very difficult for a person underwater."
Journal Reference:
K. Sørensen, J. Christensen-Dalsgaard, M. Wahlberg,
Is human underwater hearing mediated by bone conduction?,
Hearing Research,
Volume 420,
2022,
108484,
(DOI: 10.1016/j.heares.2022.108484)
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Sunday July 03 2022, @10:32PM (4 children)
I've never been in an isolation tank, but i went scuba diving a few times as a kid and i love the way deep water can be so quiet. What you can hear just is so peaceful.
Never sat there and just listened for differences or picking out certain sounds from others, though.
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 03 2022, @10:50PM
Are your ears supposed to be under the water in an isolation tank? Also, how does the LSD affect hearing?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 04 2022, @01:51PM (2 children)
The sea seemed a lot noisier where I swam and dived. I think a lot of the sound is from: https://www.kqed.org/science/1957391/oh-snap-hear-the-big-noise-tiny-shrimp-make-in-the-ocean [kqed.org]
Definitely never got a "so quiet" impression. There was always some noise - especially since for novice scuba divers we aren't supposed to hold our breath - so there's always the bubble sounds etc.
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Monday July 04 2022, @03:02PM (1 child)
I dove in one of the Great Lakes, not the ocean, and the bubbles are not loud (the loudest sound i found was the passing of a motor boat and even that wasn't bad).
I'm comparing city noises (ambulances, fire trucks, honking horns, etc) to floating inside a wreck and diving down into it. Much different level of noises (or is it just a more 'peaceful' noise?). Even hitting two rocks together underwater is subdued, not sharp and loud.
For me, i guess, underwater is just 'quieter'.
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 3, Funny) by maxwell demon on Monday July 04 2022, @03:52PM
Of course “less loud than a city” is a pretty low bar for “quiet”.
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 2) by looorg on Sunday July 03 2022, @11:12PM (1 child)
What if the Human is Seal?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 03 2022, @11:35PM
Seal is wondering if better underwater hearing will help him find the Klumfish that got away.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Mykl on Monday July 04 2022, @03:15AM
The article text very much implies that human hearing is pretty good underwater, but there is a very useful graph in TFA that would suggest otherwise.
The key point of the graph is that human hearing range tops out around 10,000Hz, while Seals and Dolphins go up to around 100,000Hz. Dolphins' hearing threshold for most of that range is _really_ good too. So, humans are sometimes better than Dolphins and Seals in the range that we can hear, but nowhere near as good as them when you compare against those animals' ranges.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Ken_g6 on Monday July 04 2022, @05:14AM (2 children)
It's a hypothesis that's generally discredited regarding bipedalism, but this does seem to be more evidence that we're adapted for having our heads underwater.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquatic_ape_hypothesis [wikipedia.org]
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Monday July 04 2022, @03:06PM
Take your stinking fins off me you damn, dirty ape.
:)
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 05 2022, @03:07PM
It doesn't seem that discredited to me at least in terms of science - based on logic and evidence. It's just hard to prove.
In fact to me the semi aquatic ape thing seems even more likely than the other claim that humans evolved to run long distances to catch animals for food[1]. So far from what I see there are a lot more tribes people fishing, clamming and eating seafood etc than running for hours to catch food. If you're supposedly a social animal with big brains and you're running for hours to catch animals for food you're the "village idiot" or an outcast or both. There are better ways of catching animals for food that don't involve running for hours and the resulting high drinking water consumption (which can be risky/fatal in many scenarios).
[1] Heck humans may have evolved to run towards/away from other humans for war. War has a high selective pressure and when it's vs your own species, endurance is more likely to evolve (run till sun down and they are less likely to catch and kill you). Maybe some early humans/apes were 2 x faster than their own species, but after those spread their genes about, everyone becomes about as fast... Long distance running is what will keep you alive vs 100 of your own species... ;)
(Score: 3, Interesting) by engblom on Monday July 04 2022, @09:41AM
I am a frequent snorkeler. When you are under water you can hear motor boats many kilometers away. It is a very annoying high pitch sound. I am sure sea animals also hate that sound.
(Score: 1) by shrewdsheep on Monday July 04 2022, @11:49AM
Did they account for potential hearing impairment of the seals? They are never left alone by human noise pollution. Also note, that hearing cells commit immediate suicide when subjected to beach club music.