casualSTEM
Posts
Singing Seals | Robo Rock | Tomato Potato

Singing Seals | Robo Rock | Tomato Potato

Issue #216

Steve Burgess
August 02, 2025

Woah, it’s Saturday! I lost track of time while working on my “day job” search so I asked chatGPT for a bit of help this week. Here’s what to expect:

Awesome story about leopard seal songs by chatGPT
Awesomer Clickables by me
A collaboration cartoon based on one of those Clickables!

—Steve 🦭

Get the weekly email that explains science in sweatpants. Stay smart for free.

gif by natgeowild

Singing Seals

Leopard seals aren’t just sleek, 1,000-pound torpedoes with a taste for penguins—they’re also surprisingly musical. Scientists have discovered that male leopard seals sing underwater during breeding season using songs with rhythm and repetition, much like human nursery rhymes. Think “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star,” but echoing under Antarctic ice.

To uncover this, researchers placed underwater microphones in East Antarctica and recorded dozens of male seals. Each seal had a unique, consistent song structure, with rhythmic patterns and timed pauses. This level of musical timing has only been seen in a few other animals like songbirds and whales.

Leopard seals are massive, stretching up to 12 feet long and weighing over half a ton. Their complex singing likely helps attract mates and communicate dominance in icy waters. It also challenges long-held assumptions that rhythmic musical structure is unique to humans. Turns out, rhythm may be a universal language—even in the wild.

_{prompt by Steve, written by chatGPT*}

Oh hey!!

Which nursery rhyme is better?

Check out last week’s results in “Unnatural Selection” below

Fun Facts About Leopard Seals

They’re apex predators in Antarctica, second only to orcas.
Their teeth are specially shaped to filter krill—yes, they do eat tiny stuff too!
They can stay underwater for up to 30 minutes.
Their singing might help females choose a mate—or just scare off the competition.
One of the first researchers to study their songs described them as sounding “like outer space whale music.”

_{prompt by Steve, written by chatGPT*}

Why are you seeing this ad? Singing lessons for a pet leopard seal ain’t cheap!

Myth: Pet insurance isn’t worth the money

Did you know that one pet health emergency can cost up to $10,000? That could put a huge strain on your savings or even force you to max out your credit cards. Protect your budget and your pet by thinking ahead and choosing a plan that works for both of you.

Protect your pet

_*ad