When I was 11, we took a school field trip to Año Nuevo State Park to see the elephant seals. Those lazy galumphs (and I say that with affection) were in their Jabba the Hutt era and the place smelled like a pile of dirty diapers that had been left out in the rain. Little did I know that just a bit further down the California coast in Santa Cruz, we could’ve been shakin’ our groove thang with Ronan the sea lion, who’s been blowing scientists’ minds for over a decade with her uncanny ability to bob her head in time with any beat, though disco is her favorite. The long-standing belief was that only animals who practiced vocal mimicry, like humans and parrots, could also keep a beat. But then along comes Ronan, whose talents were first noted as a three-year-old pup. Now that she’s 15, researchers devised a new study (published last week) to see how Ronan’s moves were holding up. And? This super freak has plenty more dances left in her.
Hot stuff: She can groove to rock and electronica. But the 15-year-old California sea lion’s talent shines most in bobbing to disco hits like “Boogie Wonderland.” “She just nails that one,” swaying her head in time to the tempo changes, said Peter Cook, a behavioral neuroscientist at New College of Florida who has spent a decade studying Ronan’s rhythmic abilities. Not many animals show a clear ability to identify and move to a beat aside from humans, parrots and some primates. But then there’s Ronan, a bright-eyed sea lion that has scientists rethinking the meaning of music. A former rescue sea lion, she burst to fame around a decade ago after scientists reported her musical skills. From age 3, she has been a resident at the University of California, Santa Cruz’s Long Marine Laboratory, where researchers including Cook have tested and honed her ability to recognize rhythms.
Rock the boat: Ronan joined a select group of animal movers and shakers — which also includes Snowball the famed dancing cockatoo — that together upended the long-held idea that the ability to respond to music and recognize a beat was distinctly human. What is particularly notable about Ronan is that she can learn to dance to a beat without learning to sing or talk musically. “Scientists once believed that only animals who were vocal learners — like humans and parrots — could learn to find a beat,” said Hugo Merchant, a researcher at Mexico’s Institute of Neurobiology, who was not involved in the Ronan research.
Stayin’ alive: But in the years since Ronan came into the spotlight, questions emerged about whether she still had it. Was her past dancing a fluke? Was Ronan better than people at keeping a beat? To answer the challenge, Cook and colleagues devised a new study, published Thursday in the journal Scientific Reports. The result: Ronan still has it. She’s back and she’s better than ever.
Turn the beat around: This time the researchers focused not on studio music but on percussion beats in a laboratory. They filmed Ronan bobbing her head as the drummer played three different tempos — 112, 120, and 128 beats per minute. Two of those beats Ronan had never been exposed to, allowing scientists to test her flexibility in recognizing new rhythms. And the researchers asked 10 college students to do the same, waving their forearm to changing beats. Ronan was the top diva. “No human was better than Ronan at all the different ways we test quality of beat-keeping,” said Cook, adding that “she’s much better than when she was a kid,” indicating lifetime learning.
It’s a bleak world out there. But there is something deeply comforting in the fact that the universe knows when we need to learn about a dancing sea lion. And what a star she is! No wonder Ronan loves disco, cause she is one foxy lady! No really, watch that zaftig strut up to her post to show off her head bopping. Total. Knockout. And holy cow, “Boogie Wonderland” really IS her song! So in theory, it now seems possible that sea lions and other animals can also keep the beat. But could anyone else feel the funk the way Ronan does? I say no! That Donna Summer of sea lions is a one in a million talent! Though the aforementioned Snowball the cockatoo does represent his species well, even if we already knew his kind could bust a move. (Call a bird a “cockatoo,” expect a dancing queen.) So… when are Ronan and Snowball gonna be set up on a date to boogie oogie oogie? To have a celebration and wake up the next day with a love hangover? May we all find romance when we start to dance in boogie wonderland.
🤣 You really made me laugh Kismet!
Do a little dance, eat a little fish, get down tonight.
Cutee!
Who needs a metronome when we can have a head-bopping sea lioness instead?
🦭🪘