Page 409 - (DK) Ocean - The Definitive Visual Guide

MAMMALS 407

ORDER CARNIVORA
FIGHTING MALES
Northern Elephant
Elephant seals have a winner-
Seal takes-all breeding system, in
which rival males battle for the
Mirounga angustirostris
right to mate. During these
1
LENGTH 10–16 / 2 ft contests, the two rivals face each
(3–5 m)
other and then rear up, roaring
WEIGHT 2,000–6,000 lb noisily with their trunks inflated.
(900–2,700 kg)
They then lunge at each other
HABITAT Islands in deep with their teeth, often inflicting
water off rocky coasts
deep, scarring cuts. Winning
DISTRIBUTION Pacific coast of North America, from males may mate with dozens of
San Francisco to Baja California
females during the course of the
breeding season, while consistent
Male elephant seals are the largest of losers do not mate at all.
all pinnipeds, and the colossal males
dwarf the females. There are two
species, one in each hemisphere. They trunk. Both sexes have a layer of
are very similar in appearance and insulating blubber and a short, stiff
have similar life histories. The coat, without any soft underfur. They
northern elephant seal is gray or are superb divers: the northern species
brown, with no obvious markings. has been tracked to depths of over
The male has a huge, muscular neck, 1 mile (1.6 km). They eat squid and
powerful jaws, and an inflatable deep-water fish, although it is still not
proboscis resembling a shortened clear exactly how they find their prey.
proportion to its body,
ORDER CARNIVORA
and it has a short, dense
Weddell Seal coat of bluish black fur,
with light streaks on the
sides. It feeds mainly on fish,
Leptonychotes weddellii
1
1
LENGTH 8 / 4–9 / 2 ft diving to depths of 2,000 ft
(2.5–2.9 m) (600 m), and is able to stay
WEIGHT 880–1,300 lb underwater for up to an hour.
(400–600 kg) Weddell seals are so well adapted
HABITAT Polar waters to life in cold water that they bask
around sea ice on ice in preference to bare ground.
DISTRIBUTION Southern Ocean, extending northward They breed on ice, and their winter
to South Georgia survival depends on keeping open
their breathing holes. They gouge
The Weddell seal is found around these out with their canine teeth,
the entire coast of Antarctica and is starting when the ice is thin, and
the world’s most southerly marine maintaining them as the ice thickens,
mammal. Its head looks small in to depths of up to 6/2 ft (2 m).
1

ORDER CARNIVORA
Crabeater Seal

Lobodon carcinophagus
1
LENGTH 6 / 2–8 ft
(2–2.4 m)
WEIGHT 440–660 lb
(200–300 kg)
HABITAT Polar waters
around sea ice
DISTRIBUTION Southern Ocean and adjoining regions
north of the Antarctic Convergence
Despite its name, this seal feeds only
on krill and other planktonic animals.
It filters water using its strange molar
teeth, which have elongated cusps that
look like a set of stubby fingers. When ORDER CARNIVORA With its long muzzle and sharply canine teeth, as well as elaborate cheek
its jaws close, the cusps act like a sieve, constricted neck, this solitary predator teeth that can strain food from the
letting water out but keeping food in. Leopard Seal looks very different from other seal water. About half of the leopard seal’s
Crabeater seals have slender bodies, species found off Antarctica. Unlike diet consists of krill, but the remainder
with fur that may be light or dark Hydrurga leptonyx most true seals, it propels itself forward is made up of much larger animals
brown and darker flippers. They live LENGTH 8 / 2–10 / 2 ft through the water with its front that it hunts individually. For example,
1
1
close to pack ice and breed on it, and (2.5–3.2 m) flippers rather than its rear ones— leopard seals are adept at catching
they are extremely nimble on land. WEIGHT 440–1,000 lb a characteristic that it shares with fur penguins as they enter the water,
Their mummified remains have been (200–450 kg) seals and sea lions. Its body is black throwing them into the air to rip the
found over 30 miles (50 km) inland in HABITAT Polar waters, or dark gray with a silvery underside, skin and feathers from their bodies. OCEAN LIFE
Antarctica’s Dry Valleys. Their total rocky coasts marked with darker flecks and spots. They also prey on squid, fish, and
population is thought to be 10–20 DISTRIBUTION Southern Ocean and adjoining regions Its jaws are exceptionally powerful, other seals. Females give birth to a
million, making them more numerous north of the Antarctic Convergence with an unusually wide gape, and they single pup each year, weaning it at
than all other seal species combined. are armed with long incisors and the age of four weeks.