Lars Miersch

TL;DR: Using force measurements, flow measurements and numerical simulations, it is found that the dynamic forces on harbor seal whiskers are, by at least an order of magnitude, lower than those on sea lion whiskers, which do not share the undulated structure.

TL;DR: The results show that electroreceptors can evolve from a mechanosensory organ that nearly all mammals possess and suggest the discovery of this kind of electroreception in more species, especially those with an aquatic or semi-aquatic lifestyle.

TL;DR: Measurements revealed that both whisker types were able to detect the vortex shedding frequency but differed considerably with respect to the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and revealed that in sea lion whiskers, each noise signal contained a dominant frequency suggested to function as a characteristic carrier signal.

TL;DR: The ability of a harbour seal to discriminate objects of different size or shape by their hydrodynamic signature is investigated and particle image velocimetry is used to identify the hydrod dynamic parameters that a seal may be using to do so.

TL;DR: The maximum time after which a harbour seal could indicate the moving direction of an artificial fish tail is determined and the hydrodynamic parameters allowing the discrimination are analysed.