Male harbour seals may learn vocalisations years before they need them

Male harbour seal pups may learn the complex vocalisations they use to woo females years beforehand.

Social mammals like humans and naked mole rats learn calls and sounds from close contact with other members of their species. Harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) spend their lives alone apart from a few weeks of puppyhood. “They are raised solely by their mothers for a couple of weeks, and then they get nourished and swim off,” says Diandra Düngen at the Max …