Ice-seal-cles

Seal of survival Found just 800 miles from the South Pole, Weddell seals live farther south than any other mammal. They spend winters under the ice, periodically coming out through blowholes and cracks to breathe. –animalia.bio

You read it first in this week’s The Factory in Guide magazine.

Seals are cute creatures. The pups especially.  How can you not love their cute, little faces!  It’s fun to see them at zoos. They are always laying around, mostly basking in the sun or swimming when we spot them. But at zoos, they get fed and don’t have to do much more than that.

But, as with all untamed creatures in the wild, they are exactly that - wild, and can be unpredictable. They are predatory. This means they hunt and kill to obtain food to survive. They also have to stay on guard and when needed, fight off other predators.

The special seal we will be reading about today is called a Weddell seal.  The earliest discovery of these seals that we know of is by Captain James Weddell in 1823 when he was on an expedition to the South Pole and studied them.

The Weddell is a rather tubby animal that weighs up to 900 pounds, with a length of about 10 feet. These seals have gray coats and lighter undersides. Their entire bodies are marked with light gray splotches. Their small heads have large eyes that help them hunt prey in dark, icy waters. Fish make up the bulk of their diet. They also eat a fair amount of squid and krill. Their favored food is the large Antarctic cod, which can weigh 154 pounds.

These seals are special because they dwell the farthest south in the Antarctic of any other seal. They usually don’t migrate. They stay within sight of land and don’t usually travel too far from the place they were born. Because they are great divers and can hold their breath for upwards to 90 minutes, they spend most of their time in the water. 

Winter time will find them under the fast-ice - ice that is held fast (attached) to the coastline. They come up only to breathe through the holes they create in the ice. They can create these air holes by using their very sharp lower teeth to cut through the ice. Eventually their teeth wear down because of this, so when they are older it is harder for them to hunt. Even so, they can live about 30 years.

This reminds me of Revelation 4:11 which says, “You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created.”

Scripture taken from the New King James Version, Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.