"Can You Hear Me Now?"
David Mann
Associate Professor, Biological Oceanography
College of Marine Science
David Mann, associate professor of biological oceanography in the College of Marine Science, is a very good listener – if you’re a red grouper, a bottlenose dolphin or a West Indian manatee, that is.
Being a marine bioacoustician means Mann is all ears when it comes to the ocean. His Marine Sensory Biology Lab focuses on sound production and hearing sensitivity in marine animals, from fishes and sea turtles to dolphins and whales.
“Most people don’t believe me when I tell them that I listen to fish because they don’t really think about fish producing sound. Still, everyone knows that frogs and insects and birds make sounds, so it shouldn’t be so surprising that fish can, too.”
Mann says the goal of his lab is to understand how marine mammals and fishes use sound in the natural environment and the constraints the environment poses on communication. Currently, he is involved in multiple projects including the study of red hind grouper near Puerto Rico and of goliath grouper in shipwrecks and dolphin distributions in the Gulf of Mexico.
“Basically we want to determine if a fish makes a distinct sound that we can detect and the behavioral context in which that particular sound is made.”
For example, placing an autonomous video camera about 240 feet deep in the Gulf of Mexico enabled Mann and his team to observe the courtship behaviors of red grouper and hear the unique sounds associated with that behavior. “This was the first time ever that those behaviors and sounds had been heard and recorded, so it was very cool. It also helps us identify when and where fish are spawning from year to year, which is important for fisheries management.”
Mann joined USF in 2001 from Tucker-Davis Technologies in Gainesville, Fla., an auditory neuroscience instrumentation company where he was vice president. Widely published and an internationally requested speaker on fish bioacoustics, Mann completed his doctoral studies at MIT/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. He conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Maryland studying hearing in fishes and ultrasound detection by shad and is also an adjunct scientist at Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, Fla.
Being able to combine his passion for marine life with his zeal for technology is one of the aspects of being a scientist and researcher Mann enjoys most. He has developed several software applications to aid in passive acoustic research, received a patent for the development of a process for manufacturing electrostatic speakers, and has produced a CD of manatee sounds.
Since Mann co-teaches the biological oceanography core course in the College of Marine Science, he is able to get to know all of the students in the college, another favorite aspect of his job.
In addition to listening to fish, of course.
-- Mary Beth Erskine, University Communications & Marketing