Interesting Facts About Seals

Living both in the water and on land, seals are amazing animals. These marine mammals, which can be found all over the world, have adapted to some of the harshest environments there is. It’s understandable that seals pique the interest of both scientists and animal enthusiasts due to their lively disposition and inquisitive behavior.

Seals are adapted to life in the ocean, as evidenced by their exceptional swimming abilities and unusual capacity to hold their breath for extended periods of time. They are the true masters of both worlds because, although spending most of their time in the water, they come ashore to rest, breed, and raise their young.

You may be surprised by the number of fascinating facts about seals that exist. Did you know, for instance, that certain seals can dive more than 1,500 feet? or that they can stay dry while sleeping underwater? Seals are among the most fascinating animals in the animal kingdom because of these amazing qualities, among many others.

Seals Appeared 30 Million Years Ago

Pinnipeds are a class of marine mammals that includes seals. Pinnipeds are a group of 33 species that are found all over the world. Scientists think that all of these species originated from otter-like land animals.

The ancestors of modern seals first entered the ocean on the West Coast between 28 and 30 million years ago, during the late Oligocene, according to fossil records. Early seals were aquatic carnivores with well-developed feet and limbs resembling paddles. It’s possible that during their transition from land to ocean life, they underwent a freshwater phase. The only freshwater pinnipeds in the world are the Baikal seal, Caspian seal, and ringed seal.

Captured by Antoine Pouligny

An early Miocene lake site in Nunavut yielded a nearly complete skeleton of a new semiaquatic predator in 2007, which has been identified as an evolutionary link between land mammals and seals.

Female seals are generally smaller than males

Individuals can range in length from 1 to 6.5 meters and weight from 30 to 4000 kg, depending on the species. The Galapagos fur seal, which can grow to a length of 1.5 meters and a weight of 65 kg, is the smallest species of seal. The largest, weighing over 4,000 kg and reaching a length of 6.5 meters, is the southern elephant seal!

With the exception of the nearly hairless walrus, almost all seals have thick fur covering them. Males typically have darker coloring than females. The fur comes in a variety of colors—from red and gray to black and dark brown—and can have spots or not. The back of most animals is, nevertheless, darker than the belly. Furthermore, eared seals have a dense undercoat, whereas true seals lack it.

They prefer cold latitudes

The Arctic seas that surround the Arctic Ocean are home to the majority of seal sightings. The Pacific and Atlantic oceans’ temperate and subantarctic waters are also home to them.

Pictured by Yuriy Rzhemovskiy

Living in the water is what seals prefer. Surrounded by small islands and reefs, rocky coasts are home to rookeries. They may live on rocky, sandy, or icy beaches. When seals are not moulting or breeding, they migrate far from their rookeries.

Seals have many adaptations to their aquatic lifestyle

Their limbs are short, and they have elongated toes that resemble flippers due to cartilage and connective tissue covering them. Seals have streamlined, spindle-shaped bodies that taper toward the tail, and they have powerful, massive shoulders. Seals have five projecting claws on their comparatively short front flippers. They have the ability to tear food or grasp the ground with their twisted flippers.

When on land, seals move like caterpillars, rolling to their destination or alternating between shifting their weight from their chest to their pelvic region. They seem a little awkward and sluggish, but they can quickly catch up to someone who is running.

They make up for their awkwardness on land in the water. Their bodies are flexible, so they can turn quickly to chase after prey. The front flippers of the seals serve as rudders, but they are held close to the body when not in use. Although the animals can travel up to 37 km/h, they typically cruise at 10 km/h or less.

Some seals are able to hold their breath underwater for up to two hours while diving to 900 meters!

Seals are able to regulate their body temperature

A layer of blubber or fat insulates the seal"s body, and the circulatory system diverts blood flow to the extremities and outer surface of the body. As a result, seals can walk on ice without melting it. Their thick fur provides them with insulation from the cold and also traps water on their skin, which warms up to body temperature.

They lose less heat to the environment because of their relatively small body surface area compared to their total volume. Seals use behavioral strategies to control their body temperature, including shifting posture in the sun, seeking out moist spots or shallow pools, and altering their level of activity.

Phil Botha is pictured.

Seals have "smoker"s blood"

Similar to heavy smokers, seals have elevated blood levels of carbon monoxide. Researchers think that seals’ blood carbon monoxide levels are related to their deep diving, even though humans get it from burning tobacco. Elephant seals hold their breath for approximately 75% of their lives, which is why researchers found that 10% of the blood in the seals is carbon monoxide. The animal can only expel carbon dioxide through breathing.

Seals" brain temperatures drop when they dive

A 15-minute dive by hooded seals has been shown to cause a 3°C (6.8°F) drop in brain temperature. The goal of this procedure is to lower the amount of oxygen that the brain uses. Large superficial veins from the front flippers of fur seals carried cold blood to the brain, thereby reducing the brain’s oxygen requirement by approximately 15-20%. This improves the seal’s ability to dive considerably and offers more defense against hypoxic injuries.

Seals use voice, smell, and touch to communicate

Many of their many vocalizations are employed during the mating season. Growling and hissing are ways that men show aggression and dominance. They also practice nonverbal cues like biting someone’s neck and making threats while keeping their mouth open. In females, slapping and flipper scratching are common indications of irritation.

During the breeding season, males emit strong odors, and mothers use scent to recognize their young. With their whiskers, they also communicate tactilely. The mother-calf recognition system also includes olfactory, visual, and auditory signals. The juveniles cry out in distinctive ways that are audible from up to a kilometer away. Mothers and cubs can still be recognized even after four years apart.

Seals use their vision and hearing to hunt

Their vision has evolved to withstand extended submersion. The seal’s eye is designed to see in low light because it has a lining that reflects and magnifies the weak light found in deep water, much like a cat’s eye. Their eyes open fully underwater, featuring a large iris and round lenses resembling those of a fish. Their iris narrows their pupils at the surface to tiny holes that shield the retina from intense light.

Underwater, seals have exceptional hearing. They have far wider hearing than humans do, and can detect sound across a large range of frequencies. Most seals’ ability to detect sounds in the air is diminished by their thick wax coating in the ear canal and lack of ear flaps. They have water-tight valves in their ears. They have valves in their nostrils, which close when they are not moving.

Seals can hunt in total darkness thanks to their highly sensitive whiskers on their heads, which enable them to sense vibrations made by their moving prey.

They eat a lot of seafood

Seeds frequently descend between 70 and 300 meters in quest of food. Their primary food sources include fish, squids, shrimp, and various mollusks, crustaceans, and zooplankton. If they are able to capture seabirds, the majority of them eat them. Large seal species have a daily intake of 5–6 kg of food. Since some populations have grown in recent years, seals have started consuming fish species that are valuable for commerce, like salmon.

Seal zoos provide twice-daily feedings of mackerel, squid, herring, and meaw. To compensate for the nutrients lost during the freezing process, they are given vitamin additives on a daily basis.

Seals are polygamous

Males are exhibited during the wedding period; they scream, fight, and frequently try to stop each other during copulation. They are somewhat shielded from shocks and bites by their enormous size and thick necks. Males dominate huge areas populated by numerous females in the early stages of breeding. The males become preoccupied during mating, and the smaller juveniles may withdraw to the periphery of the group. Though they occasionally may mate in the water, they mate mostly on land.

Alpha male elephant seals are true Don Juans, according to research conducted in the Falkland Islands. Up to 72% of the other males in a colony had never mated, and more than 92% of the pups born at any given time were the progeny of a single alpha male.

Females exhibit delayed implantation

The majority of seal species have a 9–10 month gestation period followed by a 3-month implantation delay. The fertilized egg grows into a blastocyst, which attaches to the uterine wall after going dormant for two to four months. This postponed implantation guarantees that babies are born on schedule every year.

A significant number of females and males congregate away from the rookery approximately one month prior to the pups’ birth. The males come ashore when the first pups are born. One pup is born to a female at a time; twins are very uncommon. When they are born, the puppies weigh roughly 15 kg and measure between 90 and 105 cm from nose to tail. When they are two to three weeks old, they molt.

By Ruvim Miksanskiy in photo

The mother spends the majority of the three weeks that lactation lasts in close proximity to her pups. The young rapidly gain weight on high-fat milk, feeding for approximately five minutes every five hours. Although they do not grow much in length, the pups gain roughly 2.3 kg every day.

The female enters the estrus phase and draws the male’s attention as soon as the young are weaned. At this point, the mothers completely give up on the cubs, who then fast for one to four weeks until they can start eating on their own at sea. During the reproductive season, neither males nor females eat, and both suffer a considerable loss of body weight and condition.

The seals resume their migrations to the sea after the breeding season. Young people are able to travel up to 48 km in a single day. Adults who reach puberty—between the ages of three and five for girls and six for boys—will most likely go back to their birthplace.

Seals are amazing aquatic mammals that are well-known for their playful nature, remarkable swimming prowess, and unusual adaptations to aquatic life. Seals are ideally adapted for life in the sea, from their streamlined bodies that allow them to glide through the water to their capacity for prolonged breath holding. Additionally, they have a surprising social side and frequently congregate in big groups known as colonies. Seals are more than just cute animals; with over 30 species and unique personalities, they are essential to their ecosystems and have evolved in amazing ways to survive in hostile conditions.

Climate change is their latest threat

They have hunted seals for their fat and fur throughout history. A number of species have gone extinct in the last century, such as the Japanese sea lion, which is thought to be a sign of anthropogenic extinction in coral reef systems, and the Caribbean seal-monk.

Seals are still among the most protected mammals in most parts of the world, despite the fact that the great majority of species are not currently endangered (the Galapagos fur seal being one of the exceptions). However, a new threat to seals has emerged recently: habitat loss brought on by climate change. Because of the melting sea ice, Arctic bearded and ringed seals are classified as endangered.

Fact	Description
Seals are excellent swimmers	Seals can swim at speeds up to 25 miles per hour, using their flippers to propel through the water.
They can hold their breath for a long time	Some species can hold their breath for over an hour while diving deep into the ocean.
Seals communicate with sounds	They use vocalizations like grunts, barks, and whistles to communicate, especially during mating season.
Seals have blubber	The thick layer of fat under their skin keeps them warm in cold waters and provides energy.
Not all seals have ears	Some species, like earless seals, don’t have external ears but hear well underwater.

Seals are amazing animals that never cease to astound us with their unusual adaptations to aquatic life. They exhibit an amazing balance of strength and grace in everything from their playful demeanor to their capacity to dive to amazing depths.

Seals have strong ties to land for mating and resting, even though they spend a large portion of their lives in the ocean. They also demonstrate their intelligence and adaptability through their social behavior and communication through sounds and gestures.

Gaining knowledge about seals enables us to recognize their significance in marine environments and the reasons that habitat preservation is so important. These amazing creatures enrich and enliven our planet with their presence, teaching us much about the natural world.

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