Grey Seals

Introduction
The female grey seal is swimming in the cold water.Grey seals belong to the PinnipediaPinnipedia order which includes sea lions and walruses.walruses. They are a part of the PhocidaePhocidae (fosidie) family or 'True Seals'.

Range/ Habitat
Grey seals live in the cold water of North-Western Europe (although they can be found as far south as Portugal and Spain). They like to rest on rocky coasts and sand bars.

Appearance
The grey seal is about 1.8 to 2.2m in length. The seal's weight is 150 to 220 kgs. They reach full size when eleven. The males are black with white spots and females are white with black spots. Both gendersgenders have shiny white whiskers. They have two layers of thick fur and one of blubberblubber to keep warm.

Movement
As you wonder how do seals move, well, let me tell you. They have got four flippers with five strong claws. The two back flippers are particularly strong. Did you know that the tail is used for steering, like a rudder?rudder? Grey seals have powerful shoulders they use to haul themselves onto steep slippery rocks.

Diet
This male seal is eating fish because that's its main source of food The grey seal mainly eats fish. They also eat squid, octopus, crabs, other crustaceanscrustaceans and sand eels. To get their food they hunt in open waters, but if a sea bird gets too close the seal will get a nice fresh sea bird dinn-dinns. They use their claws to rip up prey. Grey seals usually hunt alone.

Life Cycle

The calves are born with white fur.When the grey seals breed they do it on the rocky shores. The mum is pregnant for a whole year. The male goes back out to sea and the females have a white pup/calf. The pups are fed for 17 days on a milk which is 60% fat. After the 17 days, the pups go out and learn to hunt on their own. The pups are not mature until 6 years of life. Their life span is 25 years.

Enemies

30 to 50% of the babies die in their first year. While the grey seal has been endangered because of hunting in the past, the population has been growing back and now they're not considered endangered anymore. While they are hunting for food, they are getting hunted themselves. The creatures that are hunting them are sharks and orcas.

Conclusion

You see, the grey seal is a very uniqueunique creature and here's why. Grey seals are a part of the Pinniped family, which includes sea lions and walruses. They are found in the northern Atlantic (and as far south as Portugal and Spain) in the cool waters and on the rocky coasts. The males are black and have white spots and the females are white with black spots. Grey seals have four strong flippers which come with five strong claws. The grey seals mainly eat fish. When they breed they do it on the shores. Thirty to fifty percent of the babies die in the first year but grey seals are not endangered and if you want to keep it that way, don't pollute.

Bibliography

Mrs Nunweek's Fact File

Animal Encyclopedia - Animals of the World by Tom Jackson, published by Lorenzo Books in 2008

A-Z Animals

By Charlie

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