Anecdotal observations of socially learned vocalizations in harbor seals

Harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) are more solitary and less vocally complex than many other pinnipeds. Yet, they are capable of vocal learning, a form of social learning. Most extant literature examines social animals when investigating social learning, despite sociality not being a prerequisite. Here, we report two formerly silent harbor seals who initiate vocalizations, after having repeatedly observed a conspecific receiving food rewards for vocalizing. The novel vocalizations were then successfully trained to be associated with cues. Our observations suggest both social and vocal learning in a group of captive harbor seals, a species that lives semi-solitarily in the wild. We propose that, in this case, social learning acted as a shortcut to acquiring food rewards compared to the comparatively costly asocial learning.