Elephant seals used researchers’ deep sea sonar equipment as ‘dinner bell’
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VICTORIA — Scientists say new research shows how northern elephant seals used sonar from a deep sea research facility off the British Columbia coast like a “dinner bell” as they hunted for prey.
University of Victoria researchers say their study provides a rare glimpse into the species’ underwater behaviour, as the animals learned to associate sonar noise from the research instruments, 645 metres deep, with the presence of food.
Lead author Heloise Frouin-Mouy says in a University of Victoria news release that the phenomenon is known as the “dinner bell effect,” and the seals appeared to have used the sonar to find an area with prey, particularly their favoured sablefish.
The research observatory operated by Ocean Networks Canada in the Barkley Canyon was conducting unrelated research on the effects of light and bait on fish and invertebrate behaviour.
