Antartic Weddell seals

Weddell seals are animals of the ice. They live further south than any other mammal. Between the end of August and early November in the southern hemisphere spring, the females haul themselves out of holes in the ice and give birth to their pups.

When born, Weddell seal pups look like unstuffed pyjama cases, all skin and flippers and not much content. Over the next few weeks the change in mother and pup is like one balloon deflating and filling up another.

Weddell seal milk is one of the richest produced by any mammal. It contains about 60% fat (go and compare that to the label on the milk carton in the fridge) and it is this that is responsible for the rapid weight gain made by pups shortly after birth. They are weaned (stop drinking milk and begin eating normal seal food, i.e. fish) at around 7 weeks when they should have reached about 110kg (242lb). When adult, they will weigh up to 400kg (880lb) and be up to 3m (10ft) long. Unusually, the males are slightly smaller than the females.

Pups are encouraged into the water very early on by their mothers, perhaps only a week or so after birth. The water is their natural habitat and with their thick protection of blubber is a more comfortable place to be most of the time for these seals than out on the ice where the temperature can be -40° C or less with winds frequently of gale force or greater.

Diet:The diet is primarily fish and squid. The Antarctic silverfish and the emerald rock-cod are preferred species. In the summer, Weddell seals forage slightly more at night than during the day and they apparently eat their food underwater. In the summer and winter, when there are few environmental time cues, Weddell seals may use tidal movements to determine the best hunting opportunities. While Weddell seals may get all the water they need from their food or from metabolizing sea water, individuals have occasionally been seen eating snow
Weddell seals groom parts of their bodies they can reach with nails on their fore-flippers; they roll and rub themselves on the ice to groom areas the flippers cannot reach