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Some animals got their name thanks to the people who discovered them. In particular, the Weddell Seal is named after Sir James Weddell. This man once went on a fishing expedition to the sea and found such seals in Antarctica in substantial abundance.
Main description
There are quite a lot of such seals on the territory of Antarctica, for this period there are a population of about 800 thousand, they are one of the most common. Outwardly they resemble a simple seal, and they belong to the family with the characteristic name Real Seals, that is, they are practically a standard.
The body length of this animal is up to three meters, and the mass is up to 400 kilograms. As a rule, females are slightly larger, and these maximum parameters are indicated just for them, and males often weigh somewhere 30 kilograms less and 40 centimeters shorter in body.
The body is dressed in a stiff and short coat without undercoat, which most often has a brownish-gray color. Sometimes also completely black individuals are observed, which have a slight shade of silver. There is also the opportunity to see such Weddell seals, which on the belly and sides have oval spots of light color.
In order to cope with the cold, these seals use thick fat, which is located under strong skin. The fat layer is more than 10 centimeters and allows you to continuously stay in cold water.
From time to time, these seals molt, usually from December to February, however, this fact has practically no effect on behavior and habits, individuals do not feel any discomfort from molting and continue to swim calmly in cold water.
Behavior and habitat
These individuals live throughout the year off the Antarctic coast. They spend a lot of time on drifting ice, where they remain even with a significant cooling. As said earlier, they have a rather impressive layer of fat, so no weather changes are significant for these animals.
When a harsh winter comes, Weddell seals descend into the water, where they spend most of their time. They approach the shore and swim there, only occasionally surfacing in order to get a new portion of air.
This behavior is very reasonable, since the water temperature keeps a little less than zero, and on land the air temperature reaches -45, that is, much lower. If in such weather they go on ice, then a substantial layer of fat will not help either. Therefore, they make small holes in the ice and swim calmly in warm water.
The question may arise, but how do such soft and tender seals make holes in such a hard and thick layer of Antarctic ice? To do this, they use their own teeth, which also support the air holes in the desired condition. Given the temperature difference, it is easy to understand how quickly these holes can freeze, therefore, for prevention, seals periodically update each such air hole, again swimming there and gnawing ice with their teeth.
Seals are magnificent swimmers and can dive to substantial depths. A depth of about 400 meters is quite normal for them.
It is in the water surface and depths that seals seek their own food, which are various cephalopods and fish. Moreover, they themselves practically have no natural enemies - and not surprisingly. Indeed, in such harsh conditions, few others can even exist, so Weddell seals, as a rule, survive to old age, which becomes the cause of death.
Weddell Seal Breeding
There is a mating season, which is quite short and falls in the fall from September to October. However, in Antarctica this period is spring - young ice is accumulated, which is easy to gnaw for food, and there is also the opportunity to gather on the shore in order to organize colonies or to unite for this purpose on a large ice floe and swim along the coast.
One way or another, the spring collection of seals collects somewhere between 50-100 individuals in a group, but sometimes a colony can be up to 200 representatives. Thanks to this association, partners can find each other and mate productively, after which a pregnancy occurs, which lasts 10 months and ends with the birth of a small seal (usually one) up to 130 centimeters long and weighing up to 30 kilograms.
As a rule, for the first 8 weeks, the baby wears a long and thick fur that has small dark spots and a generally grayish color. After that, a more or less normal layer of fat is formed. By the way, milk feeding also lasts about 8 weeks, and it is this that is the main factor that allows the baby to increase the fat required for Antarctic conditions.
After the little seal no longer needs breast milk and finds a shaped body, it goes into the water and begins to act there on its own, looking for food and doing other things. Upon reaching the age of three, females can give birth, the puberty of males occurs a little after and begins about 6 years after birth. Life expectancy is about 20 years.
Video: Weddell seal (Leptonychotes weddellii)
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