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Geographic variation of Weddell seal (Leptonychotes weddellii) airborne mother–pup vocalisations

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Abstract

Geographic variation of vocal behaviour may be reflective of genetic, cultural and ecological differences between locations. Such differences have been previously reported in six pinnipeds, including Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii). This study investigated whether the acoustic characteristics of airborne Weddell seal mother and pup ‘contact’ calls vary geographically between the Vestfold Hills and McMurdo Sound. From each location, 72 mother and 120 pup calls were analysed, with 11 acoustic characteristics measured. MANOVA and Discriminant function analysis (DFA) identified significant differences in several fundamental frequency characteristics. The cross-validated DFA classified greater than 60% of mother and pup vocalisations to the correct location. For novel calls, the probabilities of correctly classifying these percentages by chance are low. Additionally, ordinal logistic regression identified significant differences in the maximum energy distribution of mother and pup vocalisations. For pups, this variation is likely the result of genetic differences between the two populations. Nevertheless, results support suggestions that, when compared with underwater repertoire differences, airborne within-call differences are less efficient at identifying Weddell seal breeding populations.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the Australian Antarctic Division and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada for providing logistical and financial support for the Davis Station fieldwork, Tara Cheesman for collecting most of the Weddell seal recordings, and the 1997 Davis researchers and staff for their field assistance. The McMurdo Sound study was supported by Antarctica New Zealand, the SeaWorld Research and Rescue Foundation, the Australian Research Council and the Graduate School of the Environment, Macquarie University. Thanks also to Aurora Expeditions, University of Sydney, PADI Aware Foundation, the Ecological Society of Australia and the Linnean Society of NSW for providing financial support, and to Sony Australia and TDK Australia for providing product sponsorship. We thank Robert Harcourt and Kathryn Wheatley who conducted the McMurdo Sound field research, under the auspices of Dr Lloyd Davis, University of Otago, with support from Ailsa Hall, Corey Bradshaw, and Mark Hindell. We also sincerely thank Paul Brewin, Peter Isherwood, Sharon Mackie, Anna Harrison, and volunteers from Scott Base for assistance in the field. We are grateful to Dr Fred Harrington for providing corrections to the previously misprinted CoFM formula, and Dr Tracey Rogers for the use of AMMRC equipment. Thanks also to Sophie Hall-Aspland and Brett Hill for equipment design assistance, Paul McGreevy and the anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments on an earlier draft of this manuscript, and Joy Tripovich for the helpful discussion of ideas.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Sydney, JD Stewart Building, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia

    K. T. Collins

  2. Department of Biology, University of New Brunswick, P.O. Box 5050, Saint John, Canada, E2L 4L5

    J. M. Terhune

  3. 100 Keats Street, Moorooka, QLD, 4105, Australia

    K. T. Collins

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  1. K. T. Collins
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  2. J. M. Terhune
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Correspondence to K. T. Collins.

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Collins, K.T., Terhune, J.M. Geographic variation of Weddell seal (Leptonychotes weddellii) airborne mother–pup vocalisations. Polar Biol 30, 1373–1380 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-007-0297-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-007-0297-8

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