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Weddell seals dive to forage for food, maintain breathing holes in fast ice, and explore to find more ice holes. [13] They have been observed to dive as deep as 600 m for up to an hour. [12] These seals exhibit a diel dive pattern, diving deeper and longer during the day than at night. [14]
The seals have to hunt for food in one of the harshest environments on Earth. ... Researchers have gained new insights into Weddell seals and their hunting strategies in the Antarctic. The seals ...
Weddell seal. The North-west White Island Antarctic Specially Protected Area comprises a 142 km 2 area of coastal shelf ice on the north-west side of White Island in the Ross Archipelago of Antarctica.The site has been designated an Antarctic Specially Protected Area (ASPA 137) because it supports an unusual small breeding population of Weddell seals, which is not only the most southerly known ...
Haul-out sites of Weddell seals are not necessarily geographically distinct from one another and vary due to physical factors (i.e. food availability) and biological factors (i.e. age). [7] Weddell seals are high latitude Antarctic inhabitants, allowing them to haul-out onto ice as adults year round for foraging. [7]
He was given brief command of a team of sled dogs, [7] and helped to hunt for fresh meat to supplement the castaways' inadequate supply of food. Shackleton later recalled with gratitude how Greenstreet and his hunting partner, Alexander Macklin, had killed and brought in a Weddell seal weighing 800 pounds. [8]
The animals of Antarctica live on food they find in the sea—not on land—and include seabirds, seals and penguins. The seals include: leopard seal (Hydrurga leptonyx), Weddell seal (Leptonychotes weddellii), the huge southern elephant seal (Mirounga leonina), and crabeater seal (Lobodon carcinophagus). [19]
Although the crabeater seal is sympatric with the other Antarctic seal species (Weddell, Ross and leopard seals), the specialization on krill minimizes interspecific food competition. Among krill-feeding whales , only blue whales ( Balaenoptera musculus ) and minke whales ( B. acutorostrata ) extend their range as far south as the pack ice ...
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.