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The Strangest Seal Species and Their Jaw-Dropping Abilities

KPassionate

165,052 views

Want to restore the planet’s ecosystems and see your impact in monthly videos? The first 100 people to join Planet Wild with my code PASSIONATE10 will get the first month for free at: https://planetwild.com/r/kpassionate/...
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00:00 - KPassionate
01:22 - Seal Pups and Their Incredible Moms
03:02 - Rescuing Endangered Seals
05:17 - How Long Can Seals Hold Their Breath?
05:58 - How Deep Can Elephant Seals Dive?
08:06 - Leopard Seals Are Apex Predators
09:58 - Hawaiian Monk Seals

Rescuing and rehabilitating stranded marine mammals has always been important to me, and rescued and rehabilitated seal pups are excellent candidates for release. Seals have special adaptations that help them quickly develop the survival skills necessary for swimming, diving, and foraging on their own in the ocean. Their large eyes have flattened corneas that allow them to take in more light in darker conditions. Their whiskers, or vibrissae, are highly sensitive and can detect subtle vibrations and water disturbances left by swimming prey, allowing them to track fish and other animals even in murky or dark conditions. Studies have shown that harbor seals can follow a hydrodynamic trail that is up to 35 seconds old using just their whiskers.

The Hawaiian monk seal is one of the most endangered marine mammals in the world, with only 1,600 individuals remaining. Three Arctic ice seals, the hooded, bearded, and harp seals, were added to the IUCN’s Red List of Endangered Species. The primary reason is because of habitat loss, specifically a loss of their breeding grounds. Hawaiian monk seals haul out on Hawaiian beaches to breed and give birth, but these beaches and haul out sites are diminishing because of coastal development, rising sea levels, and dangerous interactions with humans. And this video discusses how a loss of sea ice is affecting the breeding sites of hooded and gray seals, who are being swept out to sea and washing up on beaches hundreds of kilometers away. On the positive side, there are things we can do to help these endangered seals. The easiest things we can do is stuff like giving them space, keeping our beaches clean, and reducing plastic use

Sources:
[1] https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/s...
[2] https://www.eurekalert.org/multimedia...
[3] https://www.eurekalert.org/multimedia...
[4] https://www.eurekalert.org/multimedia...
[5] https://royalsocietypublishing.org/do...
[6] https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles...
[7] https://journals.biologists.com/jeb/a...
[8] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science...
[9] https://www.oceannetworks.ca/news-and...
[10] https://www.eurekalert.org/multimedia...
[11] https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2021/07...
[12] https://kevinswildside.wordpress.com/...
[13] https://whalescientists.com/crabeater...
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Music
Cody Martin - soundstripe.com

Thumbnail
Stanislav - stock.adobe.com
Photoshopped by DoubleAgent XV

Additional Images
Planet Wild
NOAA Fisheries
USGS
BBC
Ocean Networks Canada
Jerzy Strzelecki, CC BY 3.0
Angry elephant seal attacks pickup truck
Coastal Wolves of British Columbia.
JensKlingebiel - soundstripe.com
hotelfoxtrot - soundstripe.com
Longjourney - soundstripe.com
cinejinn - soundstripe.com
SkywardKick - soundstripe.com
markoconnell - soundstripe.com
icsnaps - soundstripe.com
MediaWhalestock - soundstripe.com
BlackBoxGuild - soundstripe.com
natureguy - stock.adobe.com
mzphoto11 - stock.adobe.com
hhuntington2 - stock.adobe.com
videodive - stock.adobe.com
Silver - stock.adobe.com
Katharine Moore - stock.adobe.com
Tarpan - stock.adobe.com
ImageBank4U - stock.adobe.com
blackboxguild - stock.adobe.com
Ali - stock.adobe.com
Janet Muir/Danita Delimont - stock.adobe.com
Joseph - stock.adobe.com
lorenzoragazzi - stock.adobe.com
Anton - stock.adobe.com
slowmotiongli - stock.adobe.com
videodive - stock.adobe.com
Janos - stock.adobe.com
Shamatha Pictures - stock.adobe.com
aerocaminua - stock.adobe.com
James - stock.adobe.com
Shisu_ka - stock.adobe.com
Glenn - stock.adobe.com
Stov - stock.adobe.com
mozgova - stock.adobe.com
Thomas - stock.adobe.com
JAG IMAGES - stock.adobe.com

Seal, seals, seal rescue, seal pup rescue, marine mammal, marine mammals, leopard seal, seals, hooded seal, crabeater seal, leopard seal documentary, elephant seal, sea leopard
#kpassionate #seals #leopardseal

20 Comments

@KPassionate Creator 11 months ago Pinned

@bookfaerie23 11 months ago

Those crabeater seal teeth are WILD

@lizardmilk 11 months ago

Elephant seals napping while diving is friggen wild. I learned something new. Thanks.

@STEAMerBear 5 months ago

2:25 For comparison, BUTTER is 80% fat, while pure cream is 18-24% fat. So hooded seal “milk” is basically the same as a liquified brie cheese. If it weren’t so rare and vital to pups, it might pair nicely with sour fruits and a dry cab or chardonnay!

@rksnj6797 11 months ago

When I lived in Ketchikan, I loved watching harbor seals chase salmon in the creek. At times when they were just floating or laying on a rock, I would think, "Are they watching me as much as I'm watching them?". They seemed very curious about the people watching them. Of course being a summer tourist destination, the seals seemed acclimated to crowds of people watching them.

@Moldy_Bred 11 months ago

The Hooded Seal balloon is something I was not prepared to see

@klbjko 11 months ago

the hooded seal's balloon nose cracks me up so much, it's just so ludicrous looking lol Nature is friggin crazy

@ArgueNaught 11 months ago

This is probably the most exciting and up to date compilation on seals biology I ever seen or read so far.
Thank you so much!
With seals you truly are in your element.

@bufatutuagonistes8876 11 months ago (edited)

Recently returned to the states from my place at the northern tip of the island of Newfoundland. I've had some amazing sightings of crazy harp seal doings but this year's treat was with a harbor seal. For the first time in the 27 years I've been going up, a harbor seal took up residence in the little cove next to my house. It was there for over a month! 95% of the time it was on the same rock at mid tide. When the tide was out, land predators could walk out to the rock and at high tide the rock was under a foot or two of water. The rock was somewhat steep, but the seal clambered up and then did its sidewards "comma" thing, but through the scope I could see that it was very alert, never napping for more than a few seconds and constantly raising its head to look around.. I set up the scope in the house and there it was dawn if the tide was right and also at dusk. A couple of days another harbor seal came by. I couldn't tell if it was a girl friend or buddy or boy friend. Twice they were beside each other on nearby rocks in the early morning light, the only time I saw it on any other rock than its fav. Then they started coming over to play with an empty bleach bottle float that a neighbor used to tie up his boat to. The two seals would play with the float, spinning it around, climbing on it, and pulling it down by its rope. What fun!

@CMZneu 11 months ago

Finally somebody mentions the turbulence tracking whiskers allow!

@prizmajeno 11 months ago

Neil is the best! XD Attacking random objects in town, chilling in the middle of the intersection, just raising hell generally XD

@frankheilingbrunner7852 11 months ago

6:51 That gives a whole new meaning to the expression "sink into sleep".

@TrondSig 11 months ago

The comeback of northern elephant seals after their near extinction is also remarkable. The population is now in hundreds of thousands again. I wonder if their deep-diving behavior helps them to avoid competition from human fishing. So, when humans are no longer hunting them, they actually do better than many other pinnipeds.

@mammi7699 9 months ago

Leopard seal looks like Hannibal Lecter played by Anthony Hopkins

@RebeccaTaylorTillery 9 months ago

I can only say that Paul Nicklen is a very brave man to bring us all that leopard seal footage that he does!

@citrus8944 11 months ago

this was uploaded at the absolute PERFECT time, ive been on a seal kick all day !!!!

@mom.left.me.at.michaels9951 11 months ago (edited)

In all fairness humans sexual displays probably look just as weird to something without human bias. It's all pretty strange looking 😂 peacocks are the only ones that really got it down.

Really appreciate MichaelBoydd (I think that's the spelling for his channel) Always pointing out he films babies with a zoom lense and to NOT approach them. That interaction with them is not only illegal but WILL cause the mother to abandon the pup. I really appreciate it when influencers use their platform to provide examples of proper behavior, not just annoying animals to get that click able shot. He also pays the "ocean tax" of picking up any garbage he sees.

@Bob_Adkins 5 months ago

Leopard seals are so intelligent, curious, and expressive they're downright spooky.

@valstarkgraf 11 months ago (edited)

I feel like just as Sea Otter Savvy has "Respect the nap," there needs to be pinniped education for "Respect the molt." Seals and sea lions are most vulnerable during breeding season and during molting,as they tend to haul out places where they are most likely to encounter humans.