Superb New Footage Reveals Gray Seals Clapping Underwater to Talk

Have you ever ever clapped your arms to get somebody’s consideration? The ensuing “crack!” sound is tough to disregard, rising above and penetrating via any background noise.

Now think about attempting to do it underwater – you’ll be unlikely to attain fairly the identical affect.

Amazingly, new footage launched this week within the journal Marine Mammal Science exhibits breeding gray seals doing simply that: they clap at one another to warn off opponents and appeal to potential mates.

Ben Burville with a wild gray seal. (Ben Burville)

Why is that this uncommon?

Like their land-living kinfolk, marine mammals primarily talk vocally – consider dolphin whistles or the well-known track of humpback whales. Gray seals aren’t any exception, and actually could be surprisingly versatile.

Moreover the weird “rup” and “rupe” calls these seals usually make within the wild (see the video under), some captive animals have even been skilled to carry out the Star Wars theme tune!

However vocals are solely half the story. Many marine mammals additionally produce percussive sounds, reminiscent of by slapping the water with their flippers or tails. Usually this occurs on the floor, and solely entails one flipper at a time.

What makes gray seals totally different is that – like people – they actually clap their forelimbs collectively, they usually do it totally underwater.

The behaviour that took 17 years to movie

Recording the claps was removed from simple, and took a minimum of 17 years of scuba diving by “seal diver” and marine biologist Ben Burville.

Ben was no stranger to the clapping sound itself. For years, he had heard it when diving with gray seals throughout their breeding season. Related noises had additionally been detected by researchers utilizing underwater microphones, however had been mistaken for a vocal sign.

It wasn’t till he truly noticed a giant male clapping collectively its paw-like flippers that Ben lastly recognized the true supply of the sound. But the claps had been fast and troublesome to movie; by the point he pointed his digital camera, issues had often moved on.

Years handed till lastly, in October 2017, Ben caught the behaviour on movie whereas diving close to the Farne Islands, UK. A male gray seal carried out seven claps proper in entrance of him whereas his digital camera was rolling.

(Ben Burville/Illustrations: David Hocking)

Why do gray seals clap?

At first, the invention won’t appear that stunning. In any case, seals are well-known for performing this behaviour in zoos and aquaria. Nonetheless, there’s a essential distinction: whereas captive animals (often fur seals or sea lions) have been skilled to clap for our leisure, gray seals accomplish that within the wild and of their very own accord.

So why do they do it?

Think about being in a loud room, with everybody round you chatting away. Getting consideration could be troublesome, until you make a press release. That is precisely what a clap is: a pointy, loud noise that rises above the background chatter.

Often it is males that do the clapping – typically by themselves, and typically at one another. Relying on the context, the claps could assist chase away opponents and/or appeal to potential mates.

Related features underlie show behaviour in lots of different species. Consider a chest-beating male gorilla, for instance. Like seal claps, these chest beats carry two messages: “I’m sturdy, keep away”, and “I’m sturdy, my genes are good.”

Do different marine mammals clap?

The brief reply appears to be no, or no less than not so far as we all know. Clapping appears to be a genuinely novel behaviour that advanced in seals solely as soon as. Maybe bigger species reminiscent of sea lions are prevented from doing it by elevated water resistance.

In fact, additionally it is potential that another species additionally clap, however have not accomplished so in entrance of a digital camera.

Even when clapping had been distinctive to gray seals, it appears the sharp sign it generates is essential for a lot of marine mammals. A number of dolphins, whales and seals produce related sounds by way of tail or flipper slaps, and even gunshot-like vocalisations. The oceans are a loud place, in spite of everything, and it may be essential to face out in a crowd.

What ought to we be taught from this?

Clapping seals present us simply how a lot we nonetheless do not know in regards to the outstanding mammals in our oceans. Clapping appears to be an essential social behaviour, therefore something that disturbs it could affect breeding success and survival.

Human noise air pollution is thought to intervene with different types of marine mammal communication, together with whale track. Loud industrial noises might conceivably disturb gray seals (and different species that depend on acoustic alerts) in related methods.

But when we have no idea a behaviour exists, we can’t simply act to guard it.

Understanding the animals round us higher can due to this fact assist us to guard them and their lifestyle.

David Hocking, Postdoctoral fellow, Monash College; Ben Burville, Visiting Researcher – Marine Biology, Newcastle College, and Felix Georg Marx, Curator Vertebrates, Te Papa Tongarewa.

This text is republished from The Dialog below a Inventive Commons license. Learn the unique article.