Seals lead double lives as both sea and land dwellers, but what they eat is all about the sea.
The cute and sassy seal would appear to live a double life: It sets up shop in two different worlds, as both land lover and sea siren. Continuing with this pattern of "twos," there are two main seal types: the true, or earless, seal, and the eared seal--the category into which the sea lion and fur seal fall. These web-footed water mammals survive for the most part in cold seas. Their torpedo-shaped bodies are perfectly adapted to speedy and elegant swimming, the kind of water maneuvering that uses the least amount of energy to win the tastiest of food morsels. Seals are carnivores. They feed on fish, shellfish and squid. Some seals even dine on penguins.
What and Where
True seals are members of the Phocidae family. According to Encyclopaedia Britannica online, there are 32 species of seals. The big daddy of true seals is the elephant seal, which can max out at a weight equivalent to a mini-van. On the other end of the scale is the ringed seal, which is no bigger than a large dog, explains the website Globio.
Seals manage to thrive all over the world, living in the sea as well as freshwater lakes. Mostly, though, these smooth creatures make their home in Antarctica and the Arctic Circle, and for now, they find abundant fish on which to prey in these ecosystems.
Food for Seals
The seal's diet is nothing if not varied. The seal tends to dine on a range of fish, including flounder, herring, krill and salmon. The fish and shellfish seals eat are contingent upon the particular habitat in which seals find themselves. They eat squid and mollusks. Some eat plankton. They tear their food into manageable chunks and then swallow these whole. Harbor seals bite down with heavy molars to crush mollusks, shell and all. King and emperor penguins find themselves the prey of sizable leopard seals. These seals lie in wait in the murky ocean depths for the penguins to dive in. They grab the birds in their mouths and shake them until they're dead. The penguins make up 87 percent of the leopard seal's diet, according to Globio.
Life Cycle and Food
Seals mate, give birth to and raise their young on land, while spending the majority of their time ocean side. The consumption of food becomes job one once the female seal becomes pregnant. The gestation period, as in humans, is nine months, and the mother-to-be wastes no time feeding to build up fat stores to maintain the pregnancy. When she returns to the breeding grounds to give birth, her fat reserves will allow her to nurse her pup and go long periods without eating.
Mother's Milk
According to Globio, harp seals are nursed for about 12 days and then left by their mothers to fend for themselves. Seal pups nurse on mother's milk that contains up to 45 percent fat during this period of time. Compare this to the 4 percent that's in cow's milk. After nearly two weeks of nursing, the seal pup weighs about three times as much as when it was born.
Seals as Food
Seals can fall prey to such predators as orca whales, sharks, polar bears and, of course, humans. Polar bears capture seals by waiting for them around openings in the ice. Eventually, when the seal comes up for air, the polar bear takes its opportunity. Seals are the main food source for polar bears.
Human beings pose the greatest threat to seals. Seals are valued for their meat, skins and oil. People sometimes kill harbor seals in the mistaken belief that they are responsible for decreases in the fish population.
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