Degollada, E., André, M., Fernández, A. Dolphin Ear Vascular Anatomy: An Assessment Of Hearing Damage 16 th Annual Conference of the European Cetacean Society , Liège, Belgium, 2002 Resum: The study of the ear has become a priority in the recent years because of the leading importance of this organ in the cetacean sensory systems. In addition, the growing concern about the increasing underwater man-made noise lead scientists to develop non invasive research tools to assess the negative effects of noise pollution on these mammals. Besides primarily disturbing their normal behaviour, it is also accepted that anthropogenic underwater noise may affect the cetacean inner ear structures. However, the strategic location of the ear as well as its complicated access make it difficult to study. Therefore, the development of techniques to improve our knowledge is needed. In particular, the vascular architecture of the dolphin ear and its morphophysiological and pathological implications are far for being completely understood.The vascular supply to the ear was studied by dissecting fresh and fixed heads of extremely fresh stranded animals belonging to different delphinid species, through plastic injection of the common carotid artery and posterior tissue corrosion techniques. Routine histology was performed in decalcified samples as well as scanning