Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
However, attacks on humans are rare. Most human perceptions of leopard seals are shaped by historic encounters between humans and leopard seals that occurred during the early days of Antarctic exploration. [44] Examples of aggressive behaviour, stalking and attacks are rare, but have been documented. [45]
The seals frequently visit popular tourist beaches, often giving birth there, which creates a hazard for both the seal and the human, as mothers are aggressive and protective of their young.
In January 2023, media reports indicated that seals have been attacking humans in South Africa, particularly in Cape Town area. Scientists believed it was due to the presence of a brain-altering poison in the fish they consume. The poison affects their behaviour making them more aggressive towards humans.
This is an accepted version of this page This is the latest accepted revision, reviewed on 7 December 2024. Taxonomic group of semi-aquatic mammals Pinnipeds Temporal range: Latest Oligocene – Holocene, 24–0 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N Clockwise from top left: Grey seal (Halichoerus grypus), Steller sea lion (Eumetopias jubatus), New Zealand fur seal (Arctocephalus forsteri), walrus ...
The seals that do not breed often play with each other by barking, lunging at each other, and pushing each other into the water. Other behaviors of the animal consist of waving their hind flippers in the water whist face down in the water. Additionally, when interacting with humans, these seals are not typically aggressive.
Other human-introduced pathogens, including leptospirosis, have infected monk seals. [40] Human disturbances have had immense effects on the populations of the Hawaiian monk seal. Monk seals tend to avoid beaches where they are disturbed; after continual disturbance the seal may completely abandon the beach, thus reducing its habitat size ...
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 oil by the end of the 19th century, but their numbers have since recovered.
Monk seals are earless seals of the tribe Monachini.They are the only earless seals found in tropical climates. The two genera of monk seals, Monachus and Neomonachus, comprise three species: the Mediterranean monk seal, Monachus monachus; the Hawaiian monk seal, Neomonachus schauinslandi; and the Caribbean monk seal, Neomonachus tropicalis, which became extinct in the 20th century.