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Ringed seals are both predators and prey. A predator to zooplankton and fish, the ringed seal is considered a primary consumer as well as a secondary consumer. But the tertiary consumer, or top predator, in the Arctic is the polar bear, feeding mostly on seals, including the ringed seal.
They are able to propel themselves quickly (as fast as 8 km/h (5.0 mph)) in this way for short-distance travel, to return to water, to catch up with a female, or to chase an intruder. Pups are born with fur and are completely black. Their coats are unsuited to water, but protect infants by insulating them from the cold air.
The leopard seal (Hydrurga leptonyx), also referred to as the sea leopard, [3] is the second largest species of seal in the Antarctic (after the southern elephant seal). Its only natural predator is the orca. [4] It feeds on a wide range of prey including cephalopods, other pinnipeds, krill, fish, and birds, particularly penguins.
Elephant seals or sea elephants are very large, oceangoing earless seals in the genus Mirounga.Both species, the northern elephant seal (M. angustirostris) and the southern elephant seal (M. leonina), were hunted to the brink of extinction for lamp oil by the end of the 19th century, but their numbers have since recovered.
The seals are typically silver-grey or white in color, with black spots that vary in size covering most of the body. [3] Hooded seal pups are known as "blue-backs" because their coats are blue-grey on the back with whitish bellies. This coat is shed after 14 months of age when the pups molt. [4] It is the only species in the genus Cystophora.
Crabeater seals can raise their heads and arch their backs while on ice, and they are able to move quickly if not subject to overheating. Crabeater seals exhibit scarring either from leopard seal attacks around the flippers or, for males, during the breeding season while fighting for mates around the throat and jaw. [3]
The only known natural predator of adult Baikal seals is the brown bear, but this is not believed to occur frequently. [1] The seal pups are typically hidden in a den, but can fall prey to smaller land predators such as the red fox, the sable and the white-tailed eagle. [4]
Hawaiian monk seals have a broad and diverse diet due to foraging plasticity which allows them to be opportunistic predators that feed on a wide variety of available prey. [ 12 ] Hawaiian monk seals can hold their breath for up to 20 minutes and dive more than 550 m (1,800 ft); however, they usually dive an average of 6 minutes to depths of ...