Habitat Fur Seal Essay

Description The seals are named for and known for their thick fur. Europeans first named them sea bears. Seal pups are born with a black pelt and later on becomes a dark brown. The adult males have gray hair on the back of their necks. Males are much larger than females are. Size Male pups weight 5.4 kg at birth and then grow to 175-275 kg. Female pups weigh 4.5 kg at birth and grow to 30-50 kg. Population/Lifespan 1 Million but the population is decreasing due to people hunting the seals and their predators such as killer whales and sharks. They live from 12 to 30 years. Range They travel throughout the Pacific rim from Japan to the channel islands of California. Habitat Fur seals live mostly in open water. They only go on land for pupping and breeding. They are only seen on mainland when they are sick. They don’t share any of their territory or food with other species like them, such as the sea lion. Food
Behavior They feed on fish and tend not to be deep divers. The mammals are pelagic which means open ocean. So they can not always get out of the water to rest. They developed a behavior called jughandling keeping their front and rear flippers out of the water while bobbing on the surface. Offspring They nurse for about 10 days, then go to sea to feed for four or five days. The seal pups no longer have to drink milk after about 4 months. Threats Sharks and killer Whales Captivity They can be captured and kept in small areas of zoos and marine parks. The space and the care of the animals vary while they are in captivity. While they are in captivity they are forced to be trained and put to perform for people. Protection There was a convention in 1911 that was between the U.S and other powers providing protection of the fur seals. Protection of the Fur Seals was an international treaty signed on July 7 1911 designed to manage the commercial harvest of fur bearing