Percussive underwater signaling in wild gray seals

David P. Hocking, Ben Burville, William Parker, Alistair R. Evans, Travis Park, Felix G. Marx

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleResearchpeer-review

11 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Sound plays a crucial role in marine mammal ecology, and has led numerous species to evolve a diverse vocal repertoire (Dudzinski & Gregg, 2017; Winn & Schneider, 1977). Nonvocal auditory behaviors like flipper slaps and breaches are also important, but more limited in scope and thought to occur mostly at the surface of the water (Würsig & Whitehead, 2017). Here, we report a novel type of percussive signaling in wild gray seals (Halichoerus grypus), which demonstrates that nonvocal auditory behaviors may also be produced entirely underwater.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)728-732
Number of pages5
JournalMarine Mammal Science
Volume36
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Apr 2020

Cite this