Variation of harp seal (Pagophilus groenlandicus) underwater vocalizationsamong three breeding locations

We compared the underwater vocalizations of harp seals Pagophilus groenland icus Erxleben, 1777 recorded during the breeding season at three locations: Jan Mayen Island (north of Iceland); Gulf of St Lawrence; and the 'Front' ice east of Labrador. The three herds shared 17 call types. The Jan Mayen h erd had one call type not found in the Gulf or Front. One of the Gulf and F ront call types was not found at Jan Mayen. Based on ANOVA post hoc pairwis e comparisons between locations, the three herds exhibited a similar number of within-call type differences in duration, number of elements, start pit ch and end pitch. There were no differences in proportional usage of call t ypes between the Gulf and Front herds but both differed in a similar manner from those of the Jan Mayen herd. These findings support tagging studies t hat indicate that the Gulf and Front herds may be interbreeding and both ar e reproductively isolated from the Jan Mayen herd. We found no evidence of acoustic adaptation to the site-specific ice and environmental conditions a ssociated with the three study locations.