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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.
Seals typically swallow their food whole, and will rip apart prey that is too big. [98] [99] The leopard seal, a prolific predator of penguins, is known to violently shake its prey to death. [100] Complex serrations in the teeth of filter-feeding species, such as crabeater seals, allow water to leak out as they swallow their planktonic food. [86]
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]
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.
Northern fur seal males aggressively select and defend the specific females in their harems. [1] Females typically reach sexual maturity around 3–4 years. The males reach sexual maturity around the same time, but do not become territorial or mate until 6–10 years. The breeding season typically begins in November and lasts 2–3 months.
Grey seals are vulnerable to typical predators for a pinniped mammal; their primary predator would be the orca or killer whale, but certain large species of sharks are known to prey on grey seals in North American waters, particularly great white sharks and bull sharks but also, upon evidence, additionally Greenland sharks. Some grey 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 Saimaa ringed seal is closely related to the Ladoga ringed seal, the populations likely became isolated from the Baltic ringed seal around the same time. The Saimaa ringed seal lives solely within Saimaa, a large freshwater lake in the regions of South Savo, South Karelia, and North Karelia in Finland. Current estimates place the size of ...