(CNN) Although seals are known to clap their flippers in captivity, a gray sea l has been filmed doing it in the wild for the very first time, researchers say. Ben Burville, a marine biologist at Newcastle University in the UK, filmed a seal clapping its flippers together underwater near the Farne Islands, a group of islands off the northeast coast of England. The seal's clapping produced a distinctive "crack" sound. The sound was previously thought to be made vocally, but the new video footage shows a gray seal clapping its flippers to create the noise. "Clapping appears to be an important social behaviour for grey seals," he added, "so anything that disturbed it could impact breeding success and survival for this species."

Source: CNN February 03, 2020 16:07 UTC