UNDER THE SEA

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Seal Facts to Celebrate International Seal Day

March 22 marks International Seal Day, a day the whole world should celebrate in earnest! To mark this momentous occasion – which should really see us all laze about in the sun, feeding on sumptuous sardines – we share 5 Fun Seal Facts.

The clowns of the marine mammal world, seals are a comical bunch of incredibly interesting creatures. For some, like yours truly, they may seem like a ‘spirit animal’. They spend most of their days lazing about, sunbathing in some of our planet’s most incredible places – like Antarctica, the Galapagos Islands and Peru’s Ballestas Islands – they are majority blubber (which helps against the cold, you know) and feed off sumptuous seafood.

1. Seals are part of the pinniped order of marine mammals

The pinniped order of marine mammals also includes sea lions, walruses and fur seals. There are 33 species of pinnipeds in the world and all are believed to have evolved from once terrestrial otter-like creatures.

2. Seals prefer cold sea waters

Cold sea waters are primarily found in the Arctic and Antarctic regions. There are four ice specialized species breeding on the Antarctic ice, the Leopard seals, Ross seals, Weddell seals, and Crabeater seals.

3. In the wild, grey seals can live for up to 35 years

Female seals are boasting a higher life expectancy than male seals. Female seals can get up to 30 years old in the wild, while male seals rarely reach the age of 25.

4. Seal species come in different sizes

The smallest seal species is the Galapagos Fur Seal (1m in length and 45kg in weight) whilst the largest is the Southern Elephant Seal which weighs a whopping 3,850kgs and measures up to 5m in length!

Some seal species, like the Leopard Seal, feed off fellow seals! Most, however, feed off crustaceans, fish and seabirds (if they can catch them).