This Case Study was prepared for the Case Studies session of the 1997 Annual Meeting of the Statistical Society of Canada in Fredericton, New Brunswick.
Seals possess varied repertoires of underwater vocalisations.
Geographic variation in call types have been reported for Weddell and bearded seal species, and the variations have been attributed to the isolation of breeding populations within these species. Tagging and morphometric studies suggest little exchange between the Jan Mayen Island, Gulf of St. Lawrence and Front harp seal herds. Vocalisation differences among these three herds would provide evidence that the groups are reproductively isolated. Previously vocalisations were classified by a researcher listening to tape recordings and subjectively categorising the calls. A problem with this is that calls occur along a continuum and different researchers have varying criteria for what they think constitutes a different call type.