What do Seals Eat

Seals belong to the Pinniped family, which includes dolphins, walrus and sea lions. They are mammals that can survive on, both land and in the sea. They are found in the oceans spanning from the extremely cold waters of the polar region, to the temperate tropical regions. They have to hunt for their food in places with extreme conditions like the Arctic and the Antarctic. What do seals eat in their daily life? Where do they have to fight for every little morsel? These thoughts are worth analyzing!

Food Habits of Seals

Seals have the physiology to adapt to most kind of surroundings, which makes them very efficient predators. They can forage for food at great depths, sometimes, even swimming to the bottom of the oceans. They can remain underwater for a very long period of time, which explains their ability to dive to such great depths. Seals live most of their lives in water, but give birth on the dry land. Seals are grouped according to the kind of ears that they have,which is unique to each species, their ability to survive on land and the kind of coat that they possess.

Around 35 different types of seals are found in places ranging from the cold polar regions to the tropical climatic regions. Most species of seals, feed on octopus, squid, shellfish, cod, herring, flounder, sculpin, salmon, mackerel, sand eel, shrimp, whelk and other crustaceans like krill. These are some of the specialized food preferences of seals. Seals, themselves, are hunted by predators such as sharks and killer whales. Seals are also hunted by human beings for their products such as oil, pelt and meat.

What do Harp Seals Eat?
Harp seals are carnivores that feed mostly on fish and crustaceans. They are very opportunistic hunters and mostly consume food in massive quantities. Harp seals usually feed on a variety of fish, such as cod and other invertebrates. A study has revealed that at least 67 species of fish and 70 species of invertebrates are classified under the harp seals diet.

Harp seals prefer to feed on codfish, which has resulted in a steady decline in their population. Harp seals have even been blamed for wiping out entire populations of codfish from many water bodies. The shells of crustaceans are usually tough to crack, but to a harp seal, it's just one bite of the jaw that does the work due to their strong and flat back teeth. So, instead of chewing their food, they crush and swallow in large chunks.

What do Leopard Seals Eat?
Leopard seals eat an amazingly large variety of food. In winter, their most preferred food is krill. Penguins also are an important part of their diet, during the months of January and February. Leopard seals are rather clumsy on land, but in water, they are at home, swimming around with great speed and maneuverability. They have large and unusually long fore-flippers that allows them to catch a fast moving prey.

Leopard seals have strange food habits, similar to that of a polar bear. They have very strong canine teeth, set in a wide, gaping mouth with massive jaws, enabling them to feed on a wide variety of creatures. They feed on krill during the winter. In December and January, they feed on cephalopods and fish including the newly-weaned crabeater seals. Small leopard seals also feed on squid. Larger leopard seals prefer to feed on king and emperor penguins.

Leopard seals are expert hunters and they are also regarded as the most dangerous predators of the polar region. The leopard seal hunts for penguins in frigid waters near the icy shores, hidden almost underwater. It grabs the penguin by the leg and kills the bird by shaking and beating it on the surface of the water. Some leopard seals are preyed upon by killer whales.

What do Elephant Seals Eat?
Elephant seals mostly eat squid, skates, rays, octopus and small sharks and are known to survive long periods without food, sometimes even up to three months. The females go through a starving period while giving birth, till the end of the nursing period. Elephant seals are very adept at diving and have the ability to stay underwater for a long time. They can dive for for as long as 20 minutes and to a depth of 1,000 to 2,000 feet, while hunting for food.

As a part of the natural food cycle and considering what do seals eat, they are predators who thrive on sea fish, animals and birds, which form a significant part of their huge diet. To maintain a balance in the seal population, it is imperative that we control hunting them down, for our own insignificant needs.