Weddell seal
| Weddell seal | ||||||||||||
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Female Weddell seal with cub |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
| Leptonychotes | ||||||||||||
| Gill , 1872 | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the species | ||||||||||||
| Leptonychotes weddellii | ||||||||||||
| ( Lesson , 1826) |
The Weddell seal ( Leptonychotes weddellii ) is one of the most common seals in Antarctica . It is named after its discoverer, the English navigator and seal hunter James Weddell .
features
This seal is steel gray in color and has lighter, white or yellowish spots all over its body. In summer the colors fade, in winter they become stronger again. Young animals are still unspotted. Weddell seals are around 2.5 m, rarely over 3 m, long and 400 kg. The relatively small head and short snout distinguish them from other Antarctic seals.
habitat
The Weddell seal is one of the most characteristic animals of the Antarctic. It lives around the whole of Antarctica on the edge of the pack ice and is found further south than any other mammal. In winter, many Weddell seals do not migrate north, but keep an ice hole open by constantly gnawing the freezing water with their canine teeth. Through this work, a hole can be held even when the surrounding ice has reached a thickness of 2 m.
Migratory and stray Weddell seals are sometimes seen on the coasts of the Falkland Islands , Australia, and New Zealand . However, these regions are not part of their actual range.
Way of life
Weddell seals look clumsy and sluggish on the ice. Since they have no enemies to fear outside the water, they show no escape behavior and can easily be touched by people. It is different in water, where the killer whale is its worst enemy. While fleeing from it, Weddell seals sometimes try to get just below the ice sheet where the killer whale cannot reach them.
The diet consists almost exclusively of fish, especially Antarctic cod . Cephalopods and crustaceans are also eaten in small quantities . When diving for food, Weddell seals reach depths of up to 600 m and can stay underwater for up to an hour. On such a dive they can cover up to 12 km.
Weddell seals live solitary. Sometimes several individual animals are forced to share an ice hole, where fights can then occur. Younger animals are more tolerant towards fellow species, but older animals try to defend territories. The young are born on the ice in the Antarctic spring (September / October). The only boy is initially a monochrome gray and is suckled for six weeks. It is then left by the mother, who then mates again in the water. These seals reach sexual maturity at the age of two and their life expectancy is 25 years.
Duration
The population of the Weddell seals is estimated at 500,000 to 1 million animals, which makes this the most common seal in the southern polar region after the crabeater . The stocks are currently stable. In the past, they were occasionally killed at research stations as food for sled dogs.
literature
- Ronald M. Nowak: Walker's Mammals of the World. 6th edition. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore 1999, ISBN 0-8018-5789-9
Web links
- Leptonychotes weddellii in the Red List of Threatened Species of the IUCN 2006. Posted by: Seal Specialist Group, 1996. Retrieved on 12 May, 2006.