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| [Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note |
Males grow to about 2.2 m to about 2.6 m and weigh roughly between 200 and 300 kg. After molting seasons the fur of the crab eater seal is dark brown fading to blonde on its belly. These seals also have dark brown mailings along the back and sides. The fur lightens through out the year, becoming completely blonde in summer. Crabeaters have long snouts and slender bodies. They have distinctive and complex teeth. Each tooth has tubercles, or bony protuberances with spaces between them. The upper and lower jaws fit together so that when the mouth closes the teeth and the tubercles can strain krill.
Females grow up to 3.6 m (142 in) in length and 500 lb (230 kg) in weight. Crabeater Seals colonized Antarctica during the late Miocene or early Pliocene (15 - 25 million years ago), at a time when the region was much warmer than today. The evolution of this strange, successful and abundant animal can be taken as a token of the bounty and continuous availability of krill.
Pups are born about 1.2 metres in length and weigh between 20 and 30 kilograms. While nursing, pups grow at a rate of about 4.2 kilograms a day. They are weaned after 2-3 weeks.
The seal's background colour is mainly silvery-grey when newly moulted, or golden to creamy white when the coat has faded. Older animals become progressively paler, even when freshly moulted, and may appear almost white. In younger animals, there are net-like, chocolate-brown markings and flecks on the shoulders, sides and flanks, shading into the predominantly dark hind and fore flippers and head.
Information source
IUCN
More about Crabeater Seal
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This photo is taken in the sea ice, Deception Island in Antarctica. Original format. |
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