Seals By: Jenna Saporito

Characteristic and Classification ●Thick layer of fat beneath the skin ●Their limbs are short and their feet are long and webbed, forming flippers ●They swim chiefly by a rowing action of the long front flippers ●The true seals are unable to rotate the hind flippers. ●They progress on land by wriggling on their bellies, pulling themselves with the short front flippers; in the water they are propelled by a side-to-side sweeping action of the hind flippers. Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Carnivora Superfamily: Pinnipedia Family: Phocidae Genus: Pagophilus Species: P. groenlandicus (Harp Seal)

Feeding and Relations Seals don’t take the time to chew. They will swallow small enough types of food sources. If they are after something large they will tear it into large chunks. Primary food sources include fish but they will consume just about any type of meat they can get in the water. Other types of food that they enjoy include squid, octopus, and shellfish. One predator is the great white shark and Killer Whales. Some people fear that an abundance of seals in a given area will bring more of those aggressive sharks to their waters. There is no evidence to really prove that will occur though. The biggest threat to seals is from other water animals. This is understandable since they spend long time of their live in the water. They are also threatened by some land animals as well though. This is why you will find that they stay in very large groups.

Adaptations 1.Harp seals, just like all other pinnipeds, have well adapted lungs for the semi aquatic lifestyle. The airways of pinnipeds are supported by smooth muscle and cartilage. 2.In order to deal with the intense glare of arctic ice harp seals have evolved to have a pupil that is mobile. 3.Some types of seals have even more specialized visual adaptations, depending on what they eat. Seals also have long whiskers with many nerve endings that are sensitive to the movement of prey and help them navigate murky waters.

Interesting Facts ●"True" seals, also called earless seals, are members of the Phocidae family ●As their names imply, one difference between the two types of seals is their ears. Eared seals have external ear flaps, while true seals do not. Another difference is that the rear flippers of true seals point backward, and these seals move on land with an up-and-down undulating motion. ●The milk that the females offer their pups can be up to 50% fat.