Tag seal

RESEARCH: Harbour Seals can change their voice to make them sound bigger

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Scientific researchers have determined that Harbour Seals can learn to change their voice to make them sound bigger, and that the behaviour is not a result of their anatomy.

Bigger animals usually have deeper (lower pitched) voices than smaller animals, but the Harbour Seal (Phoca vitulina) seems to be different. The Harbour Seal seems to be able to learn to change its voice. 

The Harbour Seal, a marine (saltwater) mammal in the Phocidae family of seals is a pinniped (fin-footed, semi-aquatic mammal such as a seal, sea lion, and walrus) found in the Northern Hemisphere. It is found in the Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean, Baltic Sea, and the North Sea.

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What is the difference between the South American Fur Seal and the South American Sea Lion?

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What is the difference between the South American Fur Seal (Arctocephalus australis) and the South American Sea Lion (Otaria flavescens)?

The South American Fur Seal and the South American Sea Lion are both marine (saltwater) mammals in the Pinnipedia clade of sea lions and fur seals. They are both pinniped mammals, which means that they are fin-footed.

The South American Fur Seal are both in the Otariidae family, which means that they both have ears. The South American Fur Seal has no external ear flaps, whereas the South American Sea Lion has small but clearly visible external ear flaps. 

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South American Fur Seal

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The South American Fur Seal (Arctocephalus australis) is an aquatic marine (saltwater) mammal in the Pinnipedia clade and Otariidae family of sea lions and fur seals. It is a pinniped (fin-footed) and an otariid (eared seal).

The South American Fur Seal has dark-grey or brown fur. The male has a mane of hair around its neck. It has a thick neck, broad chest, broad shoulders, and an upturned nose. It has white whiskers on its chin called vibrissae. It does not have external ear flaps.

It has flippers for swimming. Its movement in water is called aquatic locomotion. Its body is streamlined with oily fur for swimming fast underwater. It has a fatty body, called blubber, which keeps it warm and buoyant. It has a flexible spine (backbone). It has short fins, and on land, it has difficulty walking, so it crawls.

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South American Sea Lion

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The South American Sea Lion (Otaria flavescens) is a marine (saltwater) mammal in the Otariidae family of sea lions and fur seals. It is an otariid, which is an eared sea lion. It is also known as the Southern Sea Lion and the Patagonian Sea Lion.

The South American Sea Lion has orange to brown fur. The male has a very large mane of hair on its back, like other sea lions. It has a sleek, slender build with a thick neck, broad chest, broad shoulders, and a long, protruding face and upturned nose. It has white whiskers on its chin called vibrissae. It has small external ears on the sides of its face. 

It has flippers for swimming. Its movement in water is called aquatic locomotion. Its body is streamlined with oily fur for swimming fast underwater. Its fatty body has blubber, which keeps it warm and buoyant. It has a flexible spine (backbone). On land, it walks on its foreflippers (front flippers). 

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What is the difference between the California Sea Lion and the South African Fur Seal?

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What is the difference between the California Sea Lion (Zalophus californianus) and the South African Fur Seal (Arctocephalus pusillus pusillus)?

The California Sea Lion and the South African Fur Seal are both marine (saltwater) mammals in the Pinnipedia clade and Otariidae family of sea lions and fur seals. 

The California Sea Lion and the South African Fur Seal have external ear flaps. Therefore, they are both otariids.   

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South African Fur Seal

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The South African Fur Seal (Arctocephalus pusillus pusillus) is an aquatic marine (saltwater) mammal in the Pinnipedia clade and Otariidae family of sea lions and fur seals. It is an otariid or otary – a seal with external ear flaps – and a pinniped – fin footed. It is also known as the Cape Fur Seal or the Brown Fur Seal. 

The South African Fur Seal is grey-brown or black with a lighter underbelly, although the female is dark-brown. The male has a thick mane around its neck. It has a sleek, slender build with a thick neck, broad chest, broad shoulders, and a long, protruding face and nose. It has white whiskers on its chin called vibrissae. It has small external ears on the sides of its face. 

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California Sea Lion

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The California Sea Lion (Zalophus californianus) is an aquatic marine (saltwater) mammal in the Pinnipedia Clade and Otariidae family of sea lions and fur seals. It is an otariid or otary – a seal with external ear flaps – and a pinniped – fin footed. 

The California Sea Lion has light to brown or black fur, although the female can have light grey or silver fur after moulting. It does not have a mane of hair on its back, like other sea lions. It has a sleek, slender build with a thick neck, broad chest, broad shoulders, and a long, protruding face and nose. It has white whiskers on its chin called vibrissae. It has small external ears on the sides of its face. 

It has flippers for swimming. Its movement in water is called aquatic locomotion. Its body is streamlined with oily fur for swimming fast underwater. It has a flexible spine (backbone). On land, it walks on its foreflippers (front flippers). Its fatty body, which keeps it warm and buoyant, is called blubber.

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What is the difference between a Seal and a Sea Lion?

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What is the difference between a Seal (Pusa) and a Sea Lion (Neophoca)?

A Seal and a Sea Lion are both pinnipeds – finned semi-aquatic marine mammals. A Walrus (Odobenus rosmarus) is also a pinniped. 

A Seal and a Sea Lion both have flattened heads with white whiskers. 

A Seal has short flippers that are thinly webbed with a claw on each small toe, whereas a Sea Lion has large skin-covered flippers.

On land, a Seal wriggles on its belly, whereas a Sea Lion walks on its flippers.

A Seal has no visible ear flaps (external ears), whereas a Sea Lion has visible ear flaps.

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Caspian Seal

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The Caspian Seal (Pusa caspica) is an earless, finned semi-aquatic marine mammal in the pinniped family. It does have ear-holes, but the ears have no visible ear flaps. 

The Caspian Seal has light-brown to dark-brown short fur, short black-grey flippers with thin webbing and claws on each small toe. On land, its body seems bulky, but in water, it swims quickly and easily. It has a creamy-buff underbelly. It has almond-shaped dark eyes, a flattened head, and a round nose with white whiskers.

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CREATURE FEATURE: Australian Sea Lion

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The Australian Sea Lion (Neophoca cinerea) is an Australian pinniped – a finned semi-aquatic marine mammal – a fur seal.

The Australian Sea Lion has light-brown to dark-brown short fur, short black flippers, and a lumbering bulky body on land. In water, it swims quickly and easily. It has a cream underbelly. It has almond-shaped dark eyes, a flattened head, and a round nose with white whiskers.

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