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4w ago

Leopard Seals Sing Structured Songs Like Nursery Rhymes

A new Scientific Reports study confirms that males spend up to 13 hours a day in two-minute singing cycles using five core notes in distinctive sequences

All seals share the same five 'notes', which include hoots and trills, but structure them in their own unique way
Leopard seal opens it mouth for a photograph while laying out on the ice. (Photo by Tarpan on Shutterstock)
Image
Leopard seal in Antarctica.

Overview

  • The research reanalyzed analog recordings of 26 male leopard seals from the 1990s off Eastern Antarctica with modern entropy analysis to decode song patterns.
  • During the spring breeding season, males alternate between two minutes of underwater singing and two minutes of surfacing for air over sessions that can last up to 13 hours.
  • Each seal uses the same set of five core notes but arranges them in unique sequences that function as individual acoustic signatures.
  • Entropy measurements show these songs are as predictable as human nursery rhymes and occupy a midpoint between whale calls and complex human music in randomness.
  • Researchers are preparing new field recordings to investigate call-type evolution, explore regional song variations and clarify the purpose of occasional female vocalizations.