Seals are mammals that live in the sea. The harp seal, hooded seal and ringed seal live in the Arctic Oceam.
The ringed seal got its name from the marks ( that look like rings ) on its body. It is the smallest seal – about a meter and a half long (five feet)
the young
In spring, the female comes on land or on the pack ice to give birth to her babies ( pups ).
A ringed seal gives birth to her pups in a small den in the snow on top of the ice. This shelters them from their enemies. The pup stays in the den for about 6 weeks feeding on the mother’s rich milk. The mother returns to the water to feed herself. Sometimes she makes more than one den, so she can move the pup if there is danger.
Harp seals are born with fluffy white fur coats. The mother takes care of the pup for about ten days. As soon as the pup has a layer of thick blubber under its skin it is ready to go into the water. The white coat turns to gray.
adaptation
The baby harp seal’s white coat makes it hard for enemies to spot the young seal on the ice.
Seals are clumsy on land but are very good swimmers. Their strong flippers and smooth bodies help them move easily in the water. Seals are able to dive deep and can stay under water for half an hour.
The seals’ fur and a thick layer of fat under their skin helps them to keep warm in the freezing cold water.
Seals are mammals and need to come up for air. If ice forms on the surface of the water they gnaw ( chew) the ice to make breathing holes. They also bash the ice with their heads.
food
They eat fish, squid and krill ( shrimp-like animals).
Arctic foxes and polar bears hunt the seal.
Few countries in the world allow seal hunting. The majority of commercial seal hunting occurs in Canada, where millions of seals have been killed for their fur, according to the Humane Society of the United States. Most of the seals killed in recent years have been younger than one month old. They are so innocent they do not understand survival and literally what for someone to crush their skulls with a club and to add to this cruelty a large percentage of the seals are skinned alive on the spot. The beauty of white surroundings turns into a horrifying red blood bath.
The hunters, armed with clubs and other illegal weapons, beat to death the baby hooded and harp seals in front their mothers, who often die trying to save their pups. Male adults often are left to bleed to death after have their penises brutally removed to export to countries such as Japan where they are used as aphrodisiacs.
The most shocking evidence comes from 2001, when an international team of Veterinarians who witnessed the hunt, perfomed post-mortem examinations among some carcasses chosen randomly and proved that a 42% of those seals where skinned alive !!!
This is the largest mammal killing in the world and there is no excuse for such a massacre or for the torture of these beautiful living beings.
This barbarism should be stopped! Don’t turn your back on the poor seals.
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