ReviewJournal of the Royal Society, Interface2021
Creating underwater vision through wavy whiskers: a review of the flow-sensing mechanisms and biomimetic potential of seal whiskers.
Review in Journal of the Royal Society, Interface, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 55 citations in OpenAlex.
- Bioinspired flow sensor enables underwater robots to estimate motion and detect flow structure.Science advances · 2026Article
- Soft bionic actuation explains the functional role of whisking in seal whisker sensing.Npj flexible electronics · 2026Article
- A Review of the Application of Seal Whiskers in Vortex-Induced Vibration Suppression and Bionic Sensor Research.Micromachines · 2025Review
- Wonders of Harbor and Grey Seal Whiskers: Morphology, Natural Frequencies, and 3D Modeling.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2025Article
- Biomimetic Hydrodynamic Sensor with Whisker Array Architecture and Multidirectional Perception Ability.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2024Article
- Experimental Study on Aerodynamic Characteristics of Downwind Bionic Tower Wind Turbine.Biomimetics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Undulating Seal Whiskers Evolved Optimal Wavelength-to-Diameter Ratio for Efficient Reduction in Vortex-Induced Vibrations.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2024Article
- Deciphering the connection between upstream obstacles, wake structures, and root signals in seal whisker array sensing using interpretable neural networks.Frontiers in robotics and AI · 2023Article
- Bioinspired robots can foster nature conservation.Frontiers in robotics and AI · 2023Article
- Wavy Whiskers in Wakes: Explaining the Trail-Tracking Capabilities of Whisker Arrays on Seal Muzzles.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2023Article
- Whiskers as hydrodynamic prey sensors in foraging seals.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Seals are known to use their highly sensitive whiskers to precisely follow the hydrodynamic trail left behind by prey. Studies estimate that a seal can track a herring that is swimming as far as 180 m away, indicating an incredible detection apparatus on a par with the echolocation system of dolphins and porpoises. This remarkable sensing capability is enabled by the unique undulating structural morphology of the whisker that suppresses vortex-induced vibrations (VIVs) and thus increases the signal-to-noise ratio of the flow-sensing whiskers. In other words, the whiskers vibrate minimally owing to the seal's swimming motion, eliminating most of the self-induced noise and making them ultrasensitive to the vortices in the wake of escaping prey. Because of this impressive ability, the seal whisker has attracted much attention in the scientific community, encompassing multiple fields of sensory biology, fluid mechanics, biomimetic flow sensing and soft robotics. This article presents a comprehensive review of the seal whisker literature, covering the behavioural experiments on real seals, VIV suppression capabilities enabled by the undulating geometry, wake vortex-sensing mechanisms, morphology and material properties and finally engineering applications inspired by the shape and functionality of seal whiskers. Promising directions for future research are proposed.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.