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Seals produce a number of vocalizations, notably the barks of California sea lions, the gong-like calls of walruses and the complex songs of Weddell seals. The meat, blubber and skin of pinnipeds have traditionally been used by indigenous peoples of the Arctic. Seals have been depicted in various cultures worldwide.
Elephant seals are shielded from extreme cold more by their blubber than by fur. Their hair and outer layers of skin molt in large patches. The skin has to be regrown by blood vessels reaching through the blubber. When molting occurs, the seal is susceptible to the cold, and must rest on land, in a safe place called a "haul out". Northern males ...
Blubber under the seal's skin helps to maintain body temperature. Females outlive males (30–35 years versus 20–25 years). Harbor seals stick to familiar resting spots or haulout sites, generally rocky areas (although ice, sand, and mud may also be used) where they are protected from adverse weather conditions and predation, near a foraging ...
Seal finger, also known as sealer's finger and spekkfinger (from the Norwegian for "blubber"), [2] is an infection that afflicts the fingers of seal hunters and other people who handle seals, as a result of bites or contact with exposed seal bones; [citation needed] it has also been contracted by exposure to untreated seal pelts.
A typical folk-tale is that of a man who steals a female selkie's skin, finds her naked on the sea shore, and compels her to become his wife. [18] But the wife will spend her time in captivity longing for the sea, her true home, and will often be seen gazing longingly at the ocean.
An elephant seal must stay in his territory to defend it, which could mean months without eating, having to live on his blubber storage. Two fighting males use their weight and canine teeth against each other. The outcome is rarely fatal, and the defeated bull will flee; however, bulls can suffer severe tears and cuts.
The skull of the leopard seal. The leopard seal has a distinctively long and muscular body shape when compared to other seals. The overall length of adults is 2.4–3.5 m (7.9–11.5 ft) and their weight is in the range 200 to 600 kilograms (440 to 1,320 lb), making them the same length as the northern walrus but usually less than half the weight.
Newborn Weddell seals have different thermoregulatory strategies from other species of seals. Weddell seal pups are not born with brown fat, which is used in other seal species for thermoregulation. [26] Instead, they rely heavily on lanugo, a fine layer of hair on the surface of their skin, to keep warm. [27]