by R. Renee Bembry

Created on: June 09, 2009

Seal animal facts include the fact that the cute little pets are often associated with balancing beach balls on their noses, catching fish, and their unique "barking" sounds. There is much more to seals, however, than what one sees at an amusement park or zoo sideshow.

Seals are pinniped animals. Pinniped animals are mammals with flippers for hands and flippers for feet. Although walruses have flipper hands and feet as well, they are the only pinniped not considered seals.

There are two major types of seals-eared and earless. Eared seals - also called walking seals - consist of sea lions and fur seals. Earless seals - also called crawling seals - are also known as "true seals".

Telling one type of seal from another can be near impossible when you do not know how. One way to distinguish the aforementioned seals from one another, however, is to look to see whether ears are present. If no ears are present, the seals are "phocids". If ears are present, the seals are "otarids". This is not to say phocid seals do not have ears. Their ears are somewhat hidden.

Another way to tell otarids from phocids is to watch them walk. Otarids have the ability to use their hind flippers to help them move about on land. Phocids, however, have more difficulty on land because their hind flippers are not opposable in the same manner as the Otarids.

Other animal facts about otarid swimming is they use their long front flippers to maneuver through water. Phocids, on the other hand, use their rear flippers for swimming. Phocids also move their bodies in a swaying motion while swimming.

During breeding season, some seals give birth to their pups on land and some give birth on ice. Male seals often breed with more than one female. Females and babies are the only seals that eat during breeding times. Seal birthing habits depend on specific type of seal. For examples, phocid seals like Elephant seals give birth in large groups. Other types like the Arctic ringed seals give birth in solitude - meaning only the parents and pups are present.

As is normal for mammal females, mothers feed their young and than get food for themselves so they cay feed their young again. In the mean time, male seals remain on guard duty making sure pups and moms are safe. In the case of otarids, they may guard several females at one time. In theory, if not in fact, otarid advanced mobility - due to their opposable hind fins - may allow them to protect more females and babies than Phocids who do not have the more advanced movement ability.

Phocid moms do not nurse their pups as much as otarid moms do. In fact, phocid seal moms tend to fast a lot, which reduces the amount of milk they can produce. Whereas phocid pups may nurse for less than two months due to their mothers' lessened lactating period, otarid pups may nurse for as much as three years in comparison. Despite their shortened nursing period and the female phocids' fasting lifestyle, phocids are able to survive because the milk produced by their mothers has a very high fat content-much higher than otarid milk.

Seals normally dine on fish, crustaceans, and squids. They are a food source for sharks, whales, bears and even certain walruses. Some of the most unfortunate facts about seals are despite their current status as a protected species under laws of several countries, their existence is threatened due to pollution of their waters, human fishing of seal prey, loss of seal habitat, and humans extensively hunting seals for their fur coats and the oil their hides produce.

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