Hydrodynamic Responses and Machine Learning-Based Shape Classification of Harbor Seal Whiskers in the Wake of Bluff Bodies.

Harbor seals, equipped with their uniquely structured whiskers, demonstrate remarkable proficiency in tracking the trajectories of prey within dark and turbid marine environments. This study experimentally investigates the wake-induced vibrations of an elastically supported whisker model placed in the wakes of circular, square, and equilateral triangular cylinders of varying dimensions. Thereafter, a machine learning model is trained to identify and classify these intrinsic responses.