NATURAL WORLD: WILD ANIMAL
SEA LIONS & SEALS
Sea Lions and Seals are aquatic animals. Both have whiskers and soft noses like puppies. They are pinnipeds (fin footed) but they are different from each other.
Sleek and smooth like a mermaid ! This beautiful animal of the frozen seas is the SEA LION. A sleek smooth coat covers the long cylindrical body. They are noisy and can bark and roar like lions.
They have long flippers and webbed feet, that help them to swim fast in the deep icy waters. Their hand flippers can be rotated and used on land to balance and walk. Sea lions also have ears that seals do not. Groups or rafts of sea lions often bask in the sun in summer. They eat all kinds of fishes and do not chew but swallow their prey whole.
How are SEALS different ?
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This is a harp seal pup. Notice, it has no ears, only tiny ear holes. The body is rounder and plumper and the shorter fins have long nails or claws to break through the ice.
Under the coat lies the secret to its ability to survive in extreme temperatures as cold as - 50 Degree Celsius. There is a layer of fat called 'blubber' that keeps its body warm. Seals are far bigger than sea lions; elephant seals can be as heavy as a mini truck. Expert divers, they can dive to a depth of more than 1000 ft. under the sea. They feed on fish, shellfish and sea birds including penguins.
This is the heaviest of them, an elephant seal.....
There are 32 different kinds of seals including harbor seals, leopard seals, harp seals and elephant seals.
Seal mothers feed milk to the newborns and then leave them alone when they are about 9 weeks old. For the first few weeks, the pup eats nothing but snow and slowly learns to hunt in the snow. Mother seal has fed them so much before leaving that these fat babies don't feel hungry.
When on land, they use their fat rubbery bellies to wriggle and move forward or loll around comfortably on shores.
They live all over the world especially in cold freezing habitats of both North pole and South pole, coming to shore or drifting on ice for breeding. They swim and even sleep in the water.
Leopard Seals are dangerous predators that feed on penguins and other fishes.
They have long sleek necks and bodies with spots like leopards.
They are aggressive and hunt alone. The mouth curves up in a sinister smile. Only killer whales can kill a leopard seal.
Seals and Sea Lions are dying!
Seal hunting a is a way of life for tribes living in the polar regions because nothing can grow in the ice. Since they hunted only to feed themselves, there was a balance in the numbers of seals. There were no problems because the meat of one seal could feed around 20 people.
But when people turned it into a business and began hunting them for selling their fur, oil and skin for luxury products, seals were killed in large numbers. The fashion industry uses their skin and fur to make purses, coats, shoes, etc.The only way to stop this is not to buy or promote luxury animal products.
Pollution is another reason why seals are dying. Climate change is melting the ice faster making it difficult for them to breed and find food.
Simple lines for speaking....
SEALS
1. Seals are furry aquatic animals.
2. They live in icy seas at North and South
poles.
3. A thick layer of fat under the skin called
blubber keeps them warm.
4. Great divers, they even sleep in the water.
5. They eat fishes and sea birds.
6. Seals are dying because of pollution and
hunting.
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