dlphinDepartment of Zoology, Universty of Hawai'i
Dr. Paul Nachtigall

Paul Nachtigall
PhD University of Hawai'i (Psychology), 1976
Director, Marine Mammal Research Program
Hawai'i Institute of Marine Biology, Coconut Island
Marine Mammal Research Program
phone: (808) 247-5297
fax: (808) 247-5831
nachtiga@hawaii.edu
www.hawaii.edu/HIMB/faculty/nachtigall.html

Current students

Aude Pacini (Ph.D.)
Marine mammals acoustics and echolocation
Laura Kloepper (Ph.D.) Cetacean bioacoustics
Rachel Keylon (Ph.D) The hearing and echolocation of marine mamals
Alexandra Bayless (MS) Bycatch mitigation of false killer whales in the Hawaii longline fishery
Sanami Nakayama (MS) Population and community ecology



dolphin

false killer whale

Cetacean sensory and perceptual processes

My research interests focus on the sensory and perceptual processes of dolphins and small whales. Past research has focused on taste reception, vision, hearing and echolocation of toothed whales and dolphins. Currently conducting research on hearing (sound localization, low frequency audiometrics, evoked auditory potential measurements as a way to study hearing in large whales, examining hearing while animals echolocate), echolocation (determining acoustic processes of echolocation via phantom echo experiments, effects of noise on dolphins, modeling discrimination abilities) with further interest in aiding stranded animals and may be conducting future studies on vision and taste reception.

Representative publications
Nachtigall, P.E., Supin, A.Ya., and Breese, M. Hearing, Noise and Echolocating Odontocetes. Popper, A. N. and Hawkins, A. eds. (2011). Effects of Noise on Aquatic Life. Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, New York. (in press).

Li, S. Nachtigall, P.E., and Marlee Breese. Dolphin hearing during echolocation: evoked potential responses in an Atlantic bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) (In Press, Jnl Exp Biol)

Pacini, A.F., Nachtigall, P.E., Quintos, C., Schofield, D. Look, D.A., Levine, G. and Turner, J. Audiogram of a stranded Blainville's beaked whale (Mesoplodon densirostris) measured using auditory evoked potentials. (in press,J Exp Biol)

Li, S., Nachtigall, P.E., and Breese, M. Auditory brainstem responses associated with echolocation in an Atlantic bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus). Popper, A. N. and Hawkins, A. eds. (2011 ). Effects of Noise on Aquatic Life. Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, New York. (in press).

Kloepper, L., Nachtigall, P.E. and Breese, M. (2010) Change in echolocation signals with hearing loss in a false killer whale (Pseudorca crassidens), J Acous Soc Am., 128, 2233-2237

Kloepper, L. Gisiner, R. L. and Nachtigall, P.E. (2010) Decreased Echolocation Performance following High Frequency Hearing Loss in the False Killer Whale J Exp Biol 213, 3717-3722

Pacini, A.F., Nachtigall, P. E. Kloepper L. and Linnenschmidt, M. (2010) Audiogram of a formerly stranded long-finned pilot whale (Globicephala melas): measured using auditory evoked potentials. Jnl Exp Biol 213, 3138-3143

Mooney, T.A., Hanlon, R.T., Christensen-Dalsgaard, J., Madsen, P.T., Ketten, D.R., and Nachtigall, P.E. (2010) Sound detection by the longfin squid (Loligo pealeii) studied with auditory evoked potentials: sensitivity to low-frequency particle motion and not pressure. Jnl Exp Biol 213, 3748-3759

Nachtigall, P.E., Gisiner, R. L. and Reichmuth, C. (2010) Invited - In Memory: Ron Schusterman. Marine Mammal Science. 26, 997-2001.

Ibsen, S.D., Au, W.W.L., Nachtigall, P.E., DeLong, C.M., and Breese, M. (2010) Changes in consistency patterns of frequency content over time of an echolocating Atlantic bottlenose dolphin. J Acoust Soc Am 127, 3821-3829.

Supin, A.Ya., Nachtigall, P.E. and Breese, M. (2010) Target distance-dependent variation of hearing sensitivity during echolocation in a false killer whale, J Acoust Soc Am 127, 3830-3837.

Ibsen, S., Au, W., Nachtigall, P., Breese, M. (2009) "Functional bandwidth of an echolocating Atlantic bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus)." J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 125(2), 1214-1221

Nachtigall, P.E. (2009) Invited Book Review: ENCYCLOPEDIA OF MARINE MAMMALS 2nd edition. Editors: William F. Perrin, Bernd Würsig, J.G.M. Thewissen.Academic Press. Aquatic Mammals 35(3), 412-413

Mooney, T.A. Pacini, A. and Nachtigall, P.E. (2009) False killer whale (Pseudorca crassidens) echolocation and acoustic disruption: Implications for long-line bycatch and depredation. Canadian Journal of Zoology, 87, 726-733

Mooney, T.A., Nachtigall, P.E., Miller, L., Rasmussen, M., and Taylor, K.A. (2009) Auditory temporal resolution of a wild white-beaked dolphin (Lagenorhynchus albirostris ) Journal of Comparative Physiology A, 726-733

Mooney T.A., Nachtigall, P.E. and Vlachos, S. (2009) Sonar induced temporary hearing loss in dolphins. Biology Letters , 5, 565-567

Supin, A. Ya., Nachtigall, P.E., and Breese, M. (2009) Forward masking based gain control in odontocete biosonar: an evoked-potential study. J Acous Soc Am.

Mooney T.A., Nachtigall, P.E. Breese, M. Vlachos, S. and Au, W.L. (2009), Predicting temporary threshold shifts in a bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus): the effects of noise level and duration. J Acous Soc Am , 125, 1816-1826.


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