Cheeky seals caught using deep-sea research sonar as dinner bell

A colony of cheeky seals have been caught using deep-sea research sonar noise as a dinner bell.

The clever marine mammals are believed to have learned to associate the sonar with a good feeding spot where fish may have been disturbed by camera lights.

Researchers became so familiar with the repeat visitors they named them after members of The Beach Boys.

The Northern elephant seals were repeatedly captured on camera in the deep Pacific Ocean using sonar from an Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) observatory as a signal to forage for their next fish feast, according to a new study led by University of Victoria (UVic) researchers.

The findings came almost by chance, as UVic, Instituto de Ciencias del Mar (ICM-CSIC), a Barcelona-based research institute, and ONC researchers were studying the effects of light and bait on fish and invertebrate behaviour at Barkley Canyon, off the coast of southern Vancouver Island.