ACOUSTIC STRUCTURE AND INDIVIDUAL VARIATION OF GREY SEAL (HALICHOERUS GRYPUS) PUP CALLS

摘要

Throughout lactation, pups of pinnipeds regularly vocalize, including during interactions with their mother. In all studied species of otariids and in some phocids, these calls exhibit sufficient acoustic variation for individual recognition. As female grey seals Halichoerus grypus (Pinnipedia: Phocidae) often pup in dense colonies, and regularly leave their offspring alone to go to sea, the selective pressure for mutual vocal recognition between mothers and pups could be high. To investigate call variation in pups of this species, 170 calls of ten individual pups were analysed.