A seal of North Atlantic coasts, with a long, prominent nose especially noticeable in adult males.
Males have longer noses than females. Newborn pups are covered in white fur.
Grey seal pups call at their breeding sites on land. Their calls vary in pitch and in the breaks between successive sounds. Sounds heard around them can influence how these calls develop.
Researchers studied 12 pups born on Scotland’s Isle of May in 2011–2013. Eight heard digitally modified calls from another pup each day from four days old until weaning. The templates included sequences rising or falling in pitch.
Pups exposed to playback increasingly produced calls matching their assigned pattern. Those hearing playback outside an exclusively nursing context also improved in detailed similarity. Calls changed from long continuous sounds into sequences of two or three. The experiment showed that pups could adjust vocal production while remaining at their natural breeding site.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.
The Isle of May’s 2025–2035 management plan aims to monitor and protect grey seals. Because seals are easily startled by approaching people and boats during pupping, management includes restricting access to selected paths and providing signs. NatureScot contributes records of the first birth, early pup counts and seal distribution to long-term monitoring.