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A harbor seal's core temperature is about 37.8°C (100°F). There is a heat gradient throughout the blubber from the body core to the skin. The skin remains about one degree Celsius warmer than surrounding water. Harbor seals have a metabolic rate somewhat higher than land mammals of the same size. This helps them generate body heat for warmth.
May 7, 2021 · Despite living in the same environment and doing largely the same things, seals have evolved two distinct ways to swim. One group of seals chiefly use their feet to propel them through the water, while the other uses their flippers to swim. This is curious, as both groups evolved from the same land-dwelling ancestor that slipped into the sea ...
Nov 24, 2023 · Adapted Respiratory System. Many seal species are able to dive thousands of feet below the water’s surface in search of food, but this means that they need to be able to hold their breath for a long time. In some cases, seals can remain under the water for up to an hour, and this is thanks to their highly specialized respiratory systems.
- Sea lions, seals, and walruses all belong to the Pinniped order, so they do have a lot of similar features to one another. However, differences in...
- With so many species of seals, it’s no wonder that their lifespan varies greatly. Some of the smaller species may live for as long as 30 years, whi...
- If you’ve ever seen a seal’s head bobbing up and down in the water, eyes closed, there’s a good chance it’s sleeping. They’re able to float near th...
Despite looking similar, seals and sea lions propel themselves through the water in different ways. For the sea lion, swimming is all about the front flippers. In a sweeping motion, they stretch their long flippers out to the side and then quickly tuck them into their body to form a torpedo-like shape. Scientists refer to this motion as a ...
- They have been around for a long time. Fossil records indicate that the ancestors of modern seals first entered the ocean on the west coast, about 28–30 million years ago.
- There are three different major types of pinnipeds. “Phocid seals” are also called “true seals” and include several species such as harbor seals and gray seals.
- They have whiskers they use like cats do. Seals and sea lions have many well-developed whiskers, much like cats. Like cats, they have a very acute sense of touch.
- They can go for long periods of time without eating. A seal’s body stores enough fat in the blubber layer to allow the animal to go for extended periods of time without eating.
A seal will swim approximately 15,000 to 20,000 miles (25,000 to 32,000 km) each year. They are capable of swimming at speeds up to 10 mph (16 kph) but usually travel more slowly to conserve energy. When away from the continental shelf, seals dive somewhat deeper during daylight hours than at night.
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May 7, 2021 · It’s one of the first studies to closely examine seal flippers as biomechanical tools adapted for swimming, according to Hocking, and helps fill in some vast gaps left by a limited fossil record ...
