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A welcome break in house-hunting in the Norfolk area. A trip out on one of Bean's Boats to see the seal colony at Blakeney Point.
This is low season in terms of seal numbers as they breed from the end of August but there were enough to keep Steph, Alexandra and myself happy.
"All animals, except man, know that the principal business of life is to enjoy it. " Samuel Butler
A Hawaiian Monk Seal at Poipu Beach in Kauai
PACIFIC HARBOR SEALS:
Description
Pacific harbor seals have spotted coats in a variety of shades from white or silver-gray to black or dark brown. They reach five to six feet (1.7-1.9 m) in length and weigh up to 300 pounds (140 kg). Males are slightly larger than females. They are true or crawling seals, having no external ear flaps. True seals have small flippers and must move on land by flopping along on their bellies. In San Francisco Bay, many harbor seals are fully or partially reddish in color. This may be caused by an accumulation of trace elements such as iron or selenium in the ocean or a change in the hair follicle.
Behavior
Pacific harbor seals spend about half their time on land and half in water. They can dive to 1,500 feet (457 m) for up to 40 minutes, although their average dive lasts three to seven minutes and is typically shallow, and they sometimes sleep in the water. They are opportunistic feeders, eating sole, flounder, sculpin, hake, cod, herring, octopus, and squid. While harbor seals swim safely in the surf, they will often curiously watch humans walking on beaches. However, they are wary of people while on land and will rush into the water if approached too closely or disturbed. In fact, if disturbed too often, they have been known to abandon favorite haul-out sites or their pups. (Source: The Marine Mammal Center)
Why Harbor Seals Haul Out
Harbor seals (and sea lions) haul out (come out of the water) almost daily to rest and to warm up. They cannot maintain their body temperature if they stay in cold water all the time because of their smaller size and thinner blubber layer. Northern elephant seals lose less heat than harbor seals because are much larger and have a thicker blubber layer that allows them to stay at sea for months at a time before coming onshore to rest and give birth.
All pinnipeds give birth on land, and that is one fact that distinguishes them from cetaceans, another group of marine mammals. Harbor seals give birth between March and June on tidal sandbars, rocky reefs and pocket beaches. They can give birth on areas, which are inundated at high tide because harbor seal pups, unlike most pinniped species, can swim at birth. During the pupping season, mother seals will spend more time onshore nursing pups and resting, for an average of around 10–12 hours per day. The mother harbor seal stays with the pup almost continuously and rarely leaves the pup alone onshore. Mothers can take their pups with them when they go swimming and feeding because pups are adept swimmers. (Source: National Park Service)
The Elephant Seal. There are two separate species of this large, oceangoing seal; one in the Northern Hemisphere and one in The Southern Hemisphere. The Southern Hemisphere elephant seal is the slightly larger of the two. The Northern species inhabits an area ranging along the Pacific coast of Canada, the United States and Mexico. The Southern species is found on islands such as South Georgia, and the coasts of New Zealand, Argentina and South Africa.
They are named for the large elephant-like proboscis the adult males possess. This has two primary functions. One: as a re-breather, to conserve moisture during mating season, when the males rarely leave the beach. Two: It also is used to produce extremely loud noises; again, during mating season. Males of the Southern species may attain a length of as much as 16 ft. (4.9 m.) , and a weight of up to 6,600 lbs. (3000kgs.)! The females typically are just slightly more than half this size and weight. The Northern Hemisphere species averages about 10% smaller.
These creatures spend an average of 80% of their lives in the water. They can hold their breath for as long as 100 minutes. They typically dive to depths of more than 5100 ft.(1550 m.), with the deepest recorded dive by an elephant seal being 7,835 ft. (2,388 m.)! This ability provides them with ample time to hunt their favorite foods: rays, skates, squid, octopuses, eels, and even small sharks! Their average lifespan is approximately 14 years for males and 22 years for the females. #ourbreathingplanet
Seeing the hedgehog reminded me I had a stack of photos of Kiwi wildlife. There's a few more back at the start of my stream but people don't always look back that far (I'm the same though!).
This is a juvenile New Zealand Fur Seal (hunted to near extinction in the late 19th century for its fur). They live in Milford Sound for their first year to learn how to hunt and survive in calmer waters than the open coast affords.
All rights reserved (although it's a reduced size anyway).
Better in Lightbox.
A herd of about a hundred grey seals were swimming around with some harbor seals.
The Common Seal (Phoca vitulina), also known as the Harbor Seal or alternately spelled Harbour Seal, is a true seal found along temperate and Arctic marine coastlines of the Northern hemisphere. They are found in coastal waters of the northern Atlantic and Pacific Oceans as well as those of the Baltic and North Seas, making them the most wide-ranging of the pinnipeds (walruses, eared seals, and true seals).
File name: 08_06_000625
Title: Seal in water
Creator/Contributor: Jones, Leslie, 1886-1967 (photographer)
Date created: 1917 - 1934 (approximate)
Physical description: 1 negative : glass, black & white ; 4 x 5 in.
Genre: Glass negatives
Subjects: Seals (Animals)
Notes: Title from information provided by Leslie Jones or the Boston Public Library on the negative or negative sleeve.; Date supplied by cataloger.
Collection: Leslie Jones Collection
Location: Boston Public Library, Print Department
Rights: Copyright © Leslie Jones.
Preferred citation: Courtesy of the Boston Public Library, Leslie Jones Collection.
The grey seal (Halichoerus grypus, meaning "hooked-nosed sea pig")
In the United Kingdom and Ireland, the grey seal breeds in several colonies on and around the coasts. Notably large colonies are at Donna Nook (Lincolnshire)
The name is supposedly to be that of a ship called 'The Donna', part of the Spanish Armada, which sank off the Nook (a small headland) in 1588.