Is This Really How a Seal Sounds?

Seals are adorable mammals that live in marine and freshwater environments around the world. Most seals prefer cold environments, such as those found in Arctic and Antarctic waters. However, you can likely find some seals along most coastlines, according to the World Wildlife Fund. A common and beloved trait of these mammals is their ability to produce a variety of sounds.

Take this YouTube video, for example. The seal in the clip makes what sounds like a human letting out a loud and frustrated sigh. You might be wondering: Is this a common sound for a seal to make? Let’s dive into the topic below.

What Sounds Do Seals Make?

Seals tend to make various sounds, from barks and honks to grunts and moans. The one demonstrated in the above video might catch you off guard, but it’s actually pretty typical of a seal. In fact, many seals — especially pups — exhibit this type of sound. 

However, some seals can even pick up and mimic human noises. According to a 1985 study in the Canadian Journal of Zoology, one harbor seal named Hoover was able to pick up a Boston accent from the fisherman who rescued him.

Furthermore, research from the journal Current Biology found that seals can learn and imitate the sounds of vowels. This process is called vocal production learning, a skill considered rare among non-human animals.

Why Do Seals Make Sounds

Seals produce different sounds for a variety of reasons. For one thing, they typically communicate with other seals, especially underwater. In fact, seals can detect surprisingly high-frequency vocalizations underwater (between 0.25 and 100 kHz), well beyond the range of human hearing. 

When it comes to social communication, these mammals often use their vocalizations to identify one another and establish or defend their territories, according to Ocean Conservation Research. Seals also produce certain noises to attract mates and to hunt for prey.

The noise in the YouTube video linked above can have a variety of meanings, from communicating hunger to expressing annoyance. It seems the seal was responding to the human recording the video, so perhaps it was even imitating noises it had picked up from people nearby. Nevertheless, it’s a common sound that many seals produce—and certainly not the weirdest.