Hi Sarah!

Thank you SO MUCH! for all your fascinating answers. My students have a class in our computer lab on Tuesday, so they will be able to read and look at your journal and questions individually.

Questions about the seals. Is the crabeater seal a phocid? How long does the mumma nurse the young after it is born? Are the babies white or cream colored? Is the female receptive to males a few weeks after giving birth? What is the primary predator of the babies? Are females of the species larger than males or vice versa?

Thank you, thank you thank you!

warmly,

Maggie 

Sarah Anderson

It has been fun answering your students' questions, I still have a few more to go I'm working on during a stolen moment of free time today! They are welcome to send more if they have thought of anything else they are interested in...Seal questions...this is the best info about the crabeaters from Brent. They are quite common as you know, but haven't been observed much during the "birthing and rearing" season.
-Is the crabeater a phocid? Yes...for anyone reading this that's not familiar with seal classification here is some background...
All seals are considered to be pinnipeds, which means "wing or fin footed." The pinnipeds are divided into three families - the eared seals(sea lions and fur seals), the walrus, and the "true" seals (phocids).
The eared seals are called such because they have an external ear flap. These seals can sit up on their flippers and walk on land. We have seen several Antarctic fur seals on this trip.
The walrus has long tusks and lives only in the northern hemisphere.
There are 19 species of true seals (phocids). These seals do not have an external ear flap and cannot sit up on their flippers. The phocids also have a thicker layer of blubber than the other families.
-Nursing period? Not exactly known because so little time has been spent studying them during this season. Brent thinks about 3 weeks. He has visited a mom/pup/male group several times in the past ten days and said on his most recent visit that the pup looked like it had gained a lot of weight. He has some pictures of the group that I hope he'll share...I'll post them if he let's me! The pup will gain around 150 pounds during the nursing period.
-Babies white or cream colored? They are actually grey...they shed this after weaning and take on the adult coloration of cream to gray. The shading varies, and they are also spotted.
-Female receptive to males a few weeks after birth? Yes, a pregnant female is "guarded" by a male until after the pup is born and weaned. We have seen several of these triad groups on the floe we're working. It is believed that mating takes place one to two weeks after the pup is weaned.
-Primary predator of babies? Leopard seals, definitely. You can easily see leopard seal scars on the backs of most of the adults we've seen.
-Females larger? They are pretty close to the same size, females a bit bigger perhaps due to extra fat reserves for nursing. Brent can identify ones he thinks are pregnant due to their larger size also.
Hope that helps, send more questions if you have them. We have an outstanding team of researchers on board and they are more than willing to answer questions...
Sarah