Seasonal and diurnal calling patterns of Ross and leopards

The temporal calling patterns of two Antarctic pack ice seals, the leopard and Ross seal, were examined. This included seasonal onset and decline of calling (coinciding with their breeding season) as well as diurnal changes. Understanding of calling behavior has important implications for acoustic surveying, since this allows the number of calls to be related to an index of the number of animals present and to estimate abundance. The monthly changes in diurnal calling and haul‐out patterns (measured via satellite telemetry) were compared. Underwater acoustic recordings were made between 14 October 2003 and 10 January 2004 off Mawson, Eastern Antarctica (660 44.243S and 690 48.748E). Recordings were made using an Acoustics Recording Package (ARP by Dr. John Hildebrand, Scripps Institute of Oceanography, La Jolla, CA) which is designed to sit on the seafloor and passively record acoustic signals. The package was deployed at a depth of 1320.7 m. The sampling rate was 500 Hz and the effective bandwidth from 1...