What do seals eat?

The seal is a general term for the seal family of the suborder Pteropoda. The body is thick and round, with short hair on the back, blue-gray on the back, milky yellow on the abdomen, blue-black spots on the back, near-round head, large and round eyes, no external auricle, short and wide snout, long and thick upper lip whiskers, beaded, distributed all over the sea area, and the largest number along the Antarctic coast. Let's take a look at what the seals eat.

What kind of food do seals eat?

Seals usually eat fish as their main food, as well as crustaceans and cephalopods. Seals can swim at a speed of up to 27 kilometers per hour and are good at diving, generally about 100 meters, while Weddell seals in Antarctic waters can dive to a depth of more than 600 meters for 43 minutes. Seals mainly eat a variety of fish and cephalopods, and sometimes crustaceans. A seal weighing 60 to 70 kilograms eats 7 to 8 kilograms of fish a day.

The living habits of seals

Seals live in the cold temperate ocean and spend the rest of their time swimming, feeding or playing in the sea, except when they give birth, rest and molting on ice, beaches or rocks. The breeding period does not cluster, after the baby animals are born, they form a family group, and after the lactation period, the family group ends. Give birth on the ice, and when the ice melts, the cubs begin to live independently in the water. A small number of individuals whose breeding season is delayed have to give birth on the beach along the coast.

Population distribution of seals

Seals are found in the Arctic, around the South Pole and in temperate or tropical oceans. Members of the family Seal can be divided into northern and southern groups, both of which can be divided into the subfamily Sealinae and the monk Seal subfamily. The distribution of the Seal subfamily is basically limited to the Northern Hemisphere, while the Monk Seal subfamily is outside the Southern Hemisphere and can also be seen in the southern part of the Northern Hemisphere. There are more seal species in the Arctic (7 species) than in the South Pole (4 species).

Protection of seals

In 2009, EU legislation banned trade in commercial seal products in the EU region, and the Russian government banned commercial seal slaughtering in Russia. In the United States, International Seal Day falls on March 22 every year. Canada's International Day against Commercial Seal Hunting is set on March 15 every year. Chinese environmental groups celebrate March 1 as International Seal Day.