Antarctic Seals

There are 35 different species of seals. However, only six types live in Antarctica. "The Antarctic seals belong to the group of marine mammals called Pinnipeds (fin-footed). This includes the Phocidae (true seals), Otariidae (fur seals and sea lions, or eared seals), and Odobenidae (walruses). In Antarctica, there is one eared seal - the Antarctic fur seal - and five true seals: southern elephant, Weddell, leopard, crabeater and Ross.
All seals are carnivorous, and except for the fact that their feet are flipper-like to accommodate an aquatic life style, they are very similar to the Carnivore order, which includes the cats, dogs, otters, bears, etc.

Many species of seals, including some of those found in Antarctica, migrate long distances during different seasons of the year. They gather on and around the pack ice and shorelines during summer months in order to breed. The females only give birth to one young. Because other seals disperse after the short breeding season, mating must take place soon after the females give birth.

The mothers' milk contains about 45% fat and 10% protein (compared to 4% and 2% respectively in cow's milk), and the seal pups grow very quickly. Most species are weaned in about two months. The males have little or nothing to do with the raising of their offspring.

While the fur seal and the true seal are fairly closely related, there are some important differences. Fur seals have external ears, their hind feet can be positioned beneath the body in order to walk or hop on land. By contrast, the true seal has no external ears, their hind limbs extend straight back in line with the body. Of all the differences, however, the most important is the composition of the fur. The fur seals are aptly named for their dense, luxurious coats. Their fur consists of two different types of hairs, guard hairs and under-fur, which are arranged in bundles. Each long guard hair is surrounded by up to 70 short under-fur hairs, which gives the animal a highly efficient protective layer of insulation against low temperatures. It also gives it a pelt which was once highly valued by people. True seals, rely primarily on a thick layer of subcutaneous oil-rich fat or blubber, to insulate their bodies from the intense cold. Their fur is not nearly so thick or luxurious.

SOUTHERN ELEPHANT SEAL

The southern elephant seal has a large circumpolar range which includes not only the Antarctic mainland and islands, but most of the subantarctic islands as well. This is the largest species of seal in the world, surpassing even the walrus in size. The males grow to 20 feet in length and can weigh as much as 4 tons. Females, though large, are much smaller than the males and grow to about 12 feet in length and 1 ton.

WEDDELL SEAL

This is the most southerly of the seals - and indeed the most southerly of all mammals - breeding as far sough as 78 degrees South. It is almost always found within sight of land in both summer and winter. The species was not discovered until 1823 when Captain James Weddell captured six specimens during his voyage to the South Pole.

CRABEATER SEAL

This is the most abundant seal in the world, totalling somewhere between 30 and 70 million. The adults of both genders are about the same size, growing to 9 feet in length with a weight of 500 pounds. It is quite common to see adults with prominent scars on their flanks or bellies caused by encounters with leopard seals, or perhaps killer whales. It has a pointed , rather dog-like snout and is often encountered resting on pack ice or ice floes.

LEOPARD SEAL

As its name suggests, this seal is a predator. It is the only Antarctic seal which regularly eats warm-blooded prey. A portion of its diet consists of penguins, but it also eats fish, krill, and even the young of other seals. The leopard seal has none of the cute appeal of the other seals, but despite it ferocious reputation there have been very few cases of unprovoked attacks upon humans. They are solitary animals and it is rare to see more than one individual in a given area. Leopard seals chase and catch penguins with great speed, often vigorously shaking their prey to break it into smaller pieces before swallowing it.

While our expedition was in Paradise Harbor, we had two curious leopard seals following our zodiac boats to and from shore, often coming a few feet from the side.

ROSS SEAL

The Ross seal is probably the least known of all the pinnipeds. It is a solitary animal and is quite rarely seen as it inhabits the thick pack ice along the fringes of the Antarctic continent. The Ross seal has very large and well developed flippers compared with other seals. The incisor and canine teeth are delicate, sharp, and re-curved for catching squid, its main source of food. It is very vocal, and one of its alternative names is 'singing seal.' Very little is known of its breeding habits. (Antarctic Primer pg 76-85)

Niko and Paradise Harbors - March 23, 2009

Well everyone, this will be the final blog I can get out before we head for the Drake Passage on our return voyage. In some ways, I find it a little sad because I'm sure there is so much more to see and experience. This is adventure has been incredible, but now I look forward to returning home and sharing my thoughts, experiences, photos and videos with my family and others. The photos and video will not fully communicate what I have seen.

In some ways, I feel it may minimize the experience. Regardless, I look forward to speaking to students about what it is like in Antarctica and encourage them to find and learn from their own experiences.

We were hoping for some spectacular weather these final two days instead of the snow, wind and cold. Today, the last half of the day was sunny, cold and windy. That may sound funny, but the snow makes you wet and weighs down your gear.

We entered Niko Harbor this morning. It is a beautiful harbor and was shielded somewhat from the elements. For some reason, it is also one of the more active areas for the glacier breaks. This is when large sections of glacier facture and fall off into the ocean creating a large tidal wave.

This magnificent event occurred a number of times while we were hiking up one of the more safe glaciers. One moment it was quite and then you hear a loud cracking sound, then a thunderous explosion. A wall of ice then crumbles into the ocean. The Antarctic has so many dimensions to her. From weather that seems to change from moment to moment, to the magnificent beauty of her black mountains scraping the assure sky, covered with glaciers of blue crystals almost as tall as the mountains them self. Then there is the clean blue ocean and wildlife that is usually seen only in documentaries.

On this day while we were out, we came across a humpback whale feeding on creel about 25 yards from out zodiac boat. We then caught some movement by one of the icebergs and found a curious leopard seal that was as interested in us as we were in him. As we were watching the leopard seal, a Minky whale surfaced no more than 10 feet from us.
Since we were short on time, we then moved to Brown Base, which an Argentinean Antarctic base. As we went ashore, two more leopard seals were
keeping eye on our movements. We are now on the ship heading down the
Gerlache Strait. We will make one more stop before heading to the Drake Passage.
I have often wondered as I have been blogging, if anyone has been reading or following this expedition. If you have, I hope you have found some value.
Take some time and leave me your thoughts and how the blog has made you
feel. This Antarctic expedition is not the only thing that has been new to
me. Keeping a blog and sharing my daily adventures is new for me also. If nothing else, it has acted as a great journal for this period of time in my
life. It is a form memory documentation and personal expression. I will
look back and draw on the mental video and snapshots this wilderness has provided me. In some way, I hope it has sparked a desire for some of you to look for your own adventure or expedition.

Base Camp - March 22, 2009

Today has been a long day. We got up fairly early and have kept moving. The weather is so unpredictable. The day started out beautiful and then turned to snow wind and cold. We were able to get a picture of the HP banner early in the morning and I'm attaching it to this blog. Wanted to let the team know they are great and hope Conversion, AOS and RPC is high on my return. Even though it was snowing, we jumped into the zodiac boats and traveled to an island that has the largest penguin colony in the area. Penguins were everywhere. You could hardly step off the boat without having 10 curious penguins waddling over to check you out. The area also stunk to high heaven because of all the penguin poo. On the island, our video specialist captured film of me sitting (yes, poo and all) and using my HP notebook and mobile digital picture frame. I'm sure we will see a jump in sales. I'm attaching a picture of one of the leopard seals. We have some awesome video of one of them catching a penguin. It is a bit graphic, so I'm sure it is not something everyone will want to watch. We spent about three and a half hours on the island and by the time we jumped back into the zodiacs, we were completely soaked. We are now in a snow storm..did I say the weather is unpredictable here?