What is a fun fact about a seal?
What is a fun fact about a seal?
Seals have a layer of fat under skin called blubber, which keeps them warm in cold water. Their slick fur coat is streamlined for gliding through water. A seal’s whiskers help it to detect prey in dark murky waters. Seals live on average for 25 – 30 years, females usually live longer than males.
What is the smallest seal in Antarctica?
Fur seals
Fur seals are the smallest seals. They are closely related to sea lions and are able to walk on all fours. Leopard seals are solitary animals that inhabit pack-ice surrounding the Antarctic continent.
How many seals are in Antarctica?
Whilst only 6 of the 35 species of seal live in Antarctica, these 6 species actually make up the vast majority of all seals on earth. The 6 species are Antarctic Fur Seals, Leopard Seals, Ross Seals, Southern Elephant seals, Crabeater Seals and Weddell Seals.
What water do seals drink?
Like all marine mammals, seals get all the water they need from their food. Their bodies are very efficient at removing and recycling water from their food. They avoid drinking sea water; if a seal drinks too much sea water it can become seriously sick.
Why does a seal slaps its belly?
According to scientists, seals slap their bellies to warn other seals. This means there are trespassing seals that may want to steal their mates or even harm them. Some seals are aggressive and kill other seals just like any other species. They have their hierarchy and their tribal system.
Can seals see in the dark?
Seals have large eyes to allow them better vision underwater. Their eyes are specially adapted for sight in dark and murky water. Eyes contain a high number of rod cells that specialize for black, white and grey pigments and are sensitive to low light levels.
Where do seals sleep?
Sleep. Harbor seals sleep on land or in the water. In the water they sleep at the surface and often assume a posture known as bottling – their entire bodies remain submerged with just their heads exposed. This enables them to breathe when necessary.
Do ocean animals sleep?
Marine mammals such as whales and dolphins spend their entire lives at sea. When marine mammals sleep and swim at once, they are in a state similar to napping. Young whales and dolphins actually rest, eat and sleep while their mother swims, towing them along in her slipstream–a placement called echelon swimming.
Do sea animals pee?
Well, in terms of the initial question of this article, aquatic animals DO urinate, and in fact, those waste products are an essential part of the global marine ecosystem!
Are there seals in Antarctica?
Five of the six species of seals in Antarctica are earless, or ‘true’, seals. They are known as ‘earless seals’ because they don’t have external ears. The only eared seal found on Antarctica is the Antarctic Fur Seal.
What are the Predators of the Antarctic fur seal?
The colonies at Macquarie Island and the Kerguelen Islands rely more on a diet of fish and squid. Antarctic fur seals dive at night to feed. Predators of Antarctic fur seals include orca (killer whales) and leopard seals, which prey on juveniles and pups.
Do fur seals live in Antarctica?
Antarctic Fur Seal. The area that Antarctic Fur Seals live in is referred to as the “ Antarctic Convergence ” – a zone of water between the frigid waters of the true Antarctic and the more temperate waters to the north. The area is rich in krill – a major source of nutrients for a wide array of marine life.
What are Antarctic fur seals?
The Antarctic fur seal, sometimes called the Kerguelen fur seal (Arctocephalus gazella), is one of eight seals in the genus Arctocephalus, and one of nine fur seals in the subfamily Arctocephalinae. As its name suggests, the Antarctic fur seal is distributed in Antarctic waters .
