Simulating the flow and trail following capabilities of harbour seal vibrissae with the Lattice Boltzmann Method

Harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) are able to follow their prey, even without visible or audible contact. It has been shown that the whiskers, or vibrissae, of harbour seals possess an undulated surface structure, which suppresses vortex-induced vibrations from their own wake and thus minimises the forces that act upon them when they are dragged through the water. The following work uses the Lattice Boltzmann Method, together with off-lattice boundaries and 3D grid refinement, to analyse the flow and trail following capabilities of harbour seal vibrissae from a numerical point of view.