- Seal Facts - Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Seals are pinnipeds, a group of animals with three separate families—phocidae, otaridae, and odobenidae—that are the only mammals that feed in the water and breed on land
- Seal Whiskers Inspire Marine Technology - Woods Hole Oceanographic . . .
The night approaches quickly A harbor seal plunges into the water, diving deep as the sunlight recedes Through the dark, turbid waters, she searches for fish Suddenly, the whiskers on her right cheek begin vibrating And she’s off Heather Beem is closely examining seal whiskers for insights to design new…
- The value of iron for a seal - Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Most seal pups don’t make it through their first year, and the researchers want to figure out whether higher iron intake makes a difference in the pups’ survival “Everyone has been focused on the abundance of prey and how many calories seals are able to take in, but maybe just as important is getting the iron that they need,” Shero said
- Creature Feature: Elephant Seal - Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Two distinct species, the Northern and Southern elephant seal, are among the largest carnivores in the ocean It takes a whole lot of food to power a 3,000-kg (7,000 lb) body, and they’ll work for it, diving up to 1,700 meters (5,600 feet) in pursuit of fish prey Elephant seals are known to hold their breath for nearly two hours, allowing them to stay at twilight zone depths for an extended
- The Return of the Seals – Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
WHOI biologist Rebecca Gast examines whether the recovered and thriving population of gray seals in Cape Cod waters has affected water quality off the beaches they frequent
- Studying how seals adapt to extreme environments could lead to benefits . . .
A female grey seal nursing her pup on the beaches of Sable Island, Nova Scotia Gray seals give birth once a year and females will quickly lose ~30% of their body mass while the pup triples in size during a short nursing period of only 15-20 days
- Weddell seals in the Antarctic strategically time their most extreme . . .
The researchers outfitted the seals with Conductivity Temperature Depth-Satellite Relay Dive Loggers, which collected a total of 8,913 seal days of behavioral data from 59 adult seals throughout the western Ross Sea in the Antarctic
- Creature Feature: Elephant Seal – Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
These enormous, blubbery marine mammals awkwardly belly-flop around on land, but are elegantly adapted for life in the twilight zone—where they spend 90% of their at-sea time
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